Lucid dreaming frequency and personality
Personality and Individual Differences March 20, 2004 Michael Schredl, Daniel Erlacher 141 citations
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Daniel Erlacher
36 papers in the library · 765 citations · publishing 2004-2026
Papers
The Phenomenology of Lucid Dreaming: An Online Survey
The American Journal of Psychology April 21, 2014 Tadas Stumbrys, Daniel Erlacher, Miriam Johnson et al. 104 citations
Lucid dreamers are aware they are dreaming. An online survey of 684 respondents, 571 of whom were lucid dreamers (83.5%), found that lucid dreams most often begin spontaneously in adolescence and last about 14 minutes on average. Dreamers are typically active, planning actions like flying, talking with dream characters, or having sex, but often fail to remember or execute these intentions due to awakening or obstacles in the dream. The frequency of lucid dreaming was the strongest predictor of dream phenomenology, with some differences linked to age, gender, and whether the dreamer was natural or self-trained.
Testing the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in lucid dreaming: A tDCS study
Consciousness and Cognition September 8, 2013 Tadas Stumbrys, Daniel Erlacher, Michael Schredl 88 citations
Applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during REM sleep increased dream lucidity in frequent lucid dreamers, though the effects were not strong. Nineteen participants spent three nights in a sleep laboratory; on the second and third nights they randomly received either 1 mA tDCS for 10 minutes or sham stimulation during each REM period starting with the second one. Self-ratings showed increased lucidity only in frequent lucid dreamers. The results provide preliminary support for the involvement of the DLPFC in lucid dreaming, but further research controlling for indirect effects and including other brain regions is needed.
Frequency of Lucid Dreaming in a Representative German Sample
Perceptual and Motor Skills February 1, 2011 Michael Schredl, Daniel Erlacher 81 citations
About half (51%) of a representative sample of 919 German adults reported having had at least one lucid dream—a dream in which the person knows they are dreaming. Women recalled lucid dreams significantly more often than men, and lucid dream recall decreased with age. These differences may be explained by overall dream recall frequency, which correlated moderately (r = .57) with lucid dream frequency. Education, marital status, and income showed no relationship with how often people had lucid dreams. The high prevalence suggests that laboratory research on lucid dreams could further understanding of sleep, dreaming, and consciousness.
Practicing a Motor Task in a Lucid Dream Enhances Subsequent Performance: A Pilot Study
The Sport Psychologist June 1, 2010 Daniel Erlacher, Michael Schredl 76 citations
Practicing a motor task during a lucid dream can improve subsequent waking performance. In a pilot study, 40 participants were assigned to a lucid dream practice group, a physical practice group, or a control group. The task was tossing coins into a cup. Seven of the 20 volunteers in the lucid dream group successfully practiced the task in a lucid dream and showed a performance improvement from 3.7 to 5.3 successful tosses out of 20, while the other 13 in that group showed no improvement (from 3.4 to 2.9). The physical practice group improved the most, followed by the successful lucid dream group; both improved significantly more than the nondreaming and control groups. The design cannot distinguish whether specific motor learning or unspecific motivation caused the improvement.
Effectiveness of motor practice in lucid dreams: a comparison with physical and mental practice
Journal of Sports Sciences April 7, 2015 Tadas Stumbrys, Daniel Erlacher, Michael Schredl 60 citations
Rehearsing a finger-tapping sequence during a lucid dream improves next-morning performance as much as physical or mental practice while awake. In an online experiment with 68 participants split into four groups, those who practiced in a lucid dream, physically, or mentally all significantly improved from evening pre-test to morning post-test, while the no-practice control group did not. Subjective sleep quality was unaffected by nighttime practice. The results confirm earlier work showing that motor practice in lucid dreams can enhance subsequent performance, with effects comparable to waking practice.
Time for actions in lucid dreams: effects of task modality, length, and complexity
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2014 Daniel Erlacher, Melanie Schädlich, Tadas Stumbrys et al. 48 citations
Actions in lucid dreams take longer than the same actions in wakefulness, but only for motor tasks. Counting, a non-motor task, showed no time difference. In a sleep-laboratory experiment, lucid dreamers performed counting, walking, and a gymnastics routine while marking time intervals with eye movements. Walking and gymnastics required significantly more time in dreams than in waking, but the relative duration of each task remained proportional—no task was disproportionately longer. A more complex motor task did not increase the time delay. The findings suggest prolonged dream durations may stem from absent muscular feedback or slower neural processing during REM sleep.
Frequency of Lucid Dreams and Lucid Dream Practice in German Athletes
Imagination Cognition and Personality February 21, 2012 Daniel Erlacher, Tadas Stumbrys, Michael Schredl 36 citations
About 57% of German athletes have experienced a lucid dream at least once, 24% have one or more per month, and 9% of lucid dreamers have used the dream state to practice sport skills. Most of those athletes felt that such practice improved their waking performance. The prevalence of lucid dreaming among professional athletes is similar to the general population, but the proportion of lucid dreams relative to all dreams is nearly twice as high (14.5% vs. 7.5%). The findings suggest lucid dreaming offers a unique form of mental rehearsal for sports.
Mindfulness and Lucid Dream Frequency Predicts the Ability to Control Lucid Dreams
Imagination Cognition and Personality December 20, 2016 Tadas Stumbrys, Daniel Erlacher 28 citations
In lucid dreams, where the dreamer knows they are dreaming, full control over the dream body is possible in about two thirds of cases, while control of the dream environment and maintaining dream awareness are possible in less than half of cases. An online survey of 528 respondents, 386 of whom had lucid dream experience, found that higher lucid dream frequency, dispositional mindfulness while awake, and younger age predict greater dream control. Cultivating mindfulness may help lucid dreamers develop more control, but further longitudinal research is needed.
Is sleep-dependent memory consolidation of a visuo-motor task related to dream content?
heiDOK (Heidelberg University) January 1, 2010 Michael Schredl, Daniel Erlacher 25 citations
Sleep is known to help memory consolidation, but the role of dreaming in this process is less clear. This study examined whether dreams that directly incorporate a mirror tracing task improve performance on that task after sleep, and found no such effect. However, bizarre, long, and intense dreams were linked to slower performance but also to fewer errors. Whether these associations stem from changes in sleep physiology or from negative effects of dreams on mood and performance remains unknown. Future work should investigate more complex procedural tasks and how dreaming relates to emotional memory consolidation during sleep.
Wake Up, Work on Dreams, Back to Bed and Lucid Dream: A Sleep Laboratory Study.
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2020 Daniel Erlacher, Tadas Stumbrys 24 citations
A combination of the wake-up-back-to-bed (WBTB) sleep protocol and the mnemonic technique MILD can effectively induce lucid dreams in people who are not selected for lucid dreaming ability. In a sleep laboratory experiment, participants were awakened after 6 hours, kept awake for 30 or 60 minutes to practice MILD or a control task, then returned to bed. Across three MILD conditions, 36% to 54% reported lucid dreams, and 14% to 27% produced PSG-verified eye signals. In contrast, only 9% reported lucid dreams after reading, and none occurred after playing a video game. The findings suggest that WBTB plus MILD is an effective induction method for laboratory research.
Extending mental practice to sleep: Enhancing motor skills through lucid dreaming
Medical Hypotheses March 27, 2023 Emma Peters, Sanne Golembiewski, Daniel Erlacher et al. 12 citations
Lucid dreaming—becoming aware of a dream while asleep—can be used to practice motor skills, potentially improving real-world performance. The brain generates an immersive, VR-like environment with realistic body sensations during lucid dreams. Experimental studies show promising performance gains after lucid dreaming motor practice, with similarities in brain activity, eye movements, muscle activity, and autonomic responses to physical practice. Surveys indicate athletes already incorporate lucid dreaming into training. Placebo effects and increased motivation after practice need further investigation. Challenges such as the rarity of lucid dreams, lack of proper training, and limited control over dream content must be addressed to strengthen this approach for broader use.
Self-perceived effects of lucid dreaming on mental and physical health
BORIS October 9, 2020 Daniel Erlacher, Michael Schredl, Tadas Stumbrys 12 citations
About 90% of 386 participants who had lucid dream experiences reported some benefit of lucid dreams on their waking life, including mental and physical health. This benefit was linked to higher lucid dream frequency, trait mindfulness, and spirituality. The authors suggest these results should encourage development of a manualized lucid dream therapy and testing its effects in a randomized waiting-list pre-post design, while qualitative research could explore how lucid dreaming contributes to well-being over time.
Recall of a specific word list in lucid dreams – an explorative online study
heiDOK (Heidelberg University) January 1, 2009 Daniel Erlacher 9 citations
Lucid dreamers can recall about 5 out of 7 previously memorized words while dreaming, though recall rates varied widely from none to all words. Four of the twelve participants could not complete the task within the dream, suggesting that the recall rate among those who did was relatively high. The study was conducted at home, and the authors recommend future sleep laboratory studies to control for confounding factors. They also propose investigating lucid dream rehearsal as a potential method for active learning during sleep.
Electrophysiological Correlates of Lucid Dreaming: Sensor and Source Level Signatures.
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience May 14, 2025 Çağatay Demirel, Jarrod Gott, Kristoffer Appel et al. 8 citations
Lucid dreaming, where a person becomes aware they are dreaming, is linked to REM sleep. To overcome previous research limitations, a new preprocessing pipeline was applied to pooled EEG data from multiple labs. Sensor-level differences between lucid and nonlucid REM sleep were minimal, but source-level analysis revealed reduced beta power (12-30 Hz) in right central and parietal areas, including the temporoparietal junction, during lucid dreaming. Alpha-band (8-12 Hz) connectivity increased compared to nonlucid REM sleep. During eye signaling of lucidity, gamma1 power (30-36 Hz) increased in right temporo-occipital regions, including the precuneus, and interhemispheric gamma1 connectivity rose. These patterns suggest shifts in network communication underlying changes in perception, self-awareness, and cognitive control.
Fever Dreams: An Online Study
Frontiers in Psychology January 28, 2020 Michael Schredl, Daniel Erlacher 7 citations
Fever dreams are more bizarre, negatively toned, and contain more references to health and temperature perception than ordinary dreams, according to an online survey of 164 participants who submitted 100 fever dream reports. These findings align with the continuity hypothesis of dreaming, which holds that waking-life experiences influence dream content. The authors suggest future diary studies during febrile illness and sleep-laboratory experiments with induced fever could further clarify how elevated body temperature shapes subjective sleep experiences.
Combining Wake-Up-Back-to-Bed with Cognitive Induction Techniques: Does Earlier Sleep Interruption Reduce Lucid Dream Induction Rate?
Clocks & Sleep April 20, 2022 Daniel Erlacher, Vitus Furrer, Matthias Ineichen et al. 3 citations
Lucid dreaming, where dreamers are aware they are dreaming and can communicate with researchers in real time, offers a new way to study dreams. However, such research is limited because lucid dreamers are rare. In three experiments replicating an earlier method that successfully induced lucid dreams in 50% of participants, the researchers shortened the first sleep period to 4.5 hours (instead of 6), simplified morning awakenings, and tested a different induction technique. Only 26%, 0%, and 20% of participants reported lucid dreams, suggesting that earlier sleep interruption reduces success, that REM awakenings are necessary for induction, and that reality testing is less effective than the mnemonic technique.
Electrophysiological correlates of lucid dreaming: sensor and source level signatures
bioRxiv Preprint Server April 9, 2024 Çağatay Demirel, Jarrod Gott, Kristoffer Appel et al. 2 citations preprint
Lucid dreaming, a state of conscious awareness during REM sleep, is associated with specific brain activity patterns. Compared to non-lucid REM sleep, EEG sensor-level differences were few. However, source-level analysis revealed increased gamma1 power (30-36 Hz) in left-hemispheric temporal areas during lucid dreaming, potentially reflecting verbal insight processes, and in right temporo-occipital regions including the precuneus around the onset of lucid eye signaling, linked to self-referential thinking. Beta power (12-30 Hz) decreased in right central and parietal areas including the temporo-parietal junction, possibly related to conscious reality assessment. Alpha-band (8-12 Hz) functional connectivity increased, contrasting with psychedelic states and highlighting enhanced self-awareness.
Nightmares in Swiss elite athletes: Associated factors
Journal of Sleep Research July 1, 2024 Michael Schredl, Albrecht Vorster, Michael J. Schmid et al. 1 citation
About 6% of elite athletes report having nightmares at least once a week. Female gender and higher general stress levels are strongly linked to more frequent nightmares. To a lesser degree, more training hours, lost training days due to illness, and early training sessions also relate to higher nightmare frequency. Sport discipline itself shows no connection. An unexpected finding is that consuming alcohol late—within four hours of bedtime—is associated with more nightmares. These results suggest that stress from sports participation may contribute to nightmare frequency. Future research should explore whether interventions for athletes with frequent nightmares could improve their well-being and possibly athletic performance.
Bodily Stimulation During REM Sleep: Effects of Muscle and Vestibular Cueing on Lucid Dreaming
SLEEP Advances July 8, 2026 Emma Peters, Xinlin Wang, Johanna Heitmann et al.
Targeted bodily stimulation during REM sleep can affect dream lucidity, but the effects depend on the type of stimulation. Electrical muscle stimulation did not increase lucid awareness, whereas galvanic vestibular stimulation was associated with higher lucidity ratings and questionnaire scores, even though the stimulation was rarely incorporated into dream content directly. The findings suggest that modulating the sense of bodily self during REM sleep may enhance reflective awareness without requiring sensory incorporation into dreams. Non-invasive vestibular stimulation may offer a new way to study lucid dreaming mechanisms.
EEG microstates reveal distinct network dynamics in lucid and non-lucid REM sleep
Consciousness and Cognition April 13, 2026 Xinlin Wang, Emma Peters, Johannes Strelen et al.
During lucid dreaming, the dreamer is aware they are dreaming. To identify brain network activity linked to this conscious experience, 39 sleep recordings (lucid vs. non-lucid REM sleep) from 8 lucid dreamers were analyzed using EEG microstate analysis. Microstates A and G dominated during lucid REM, while microstates B, C, and D dominated during non-lucid REM. These microstates were associated with emotional processing (A), visual processing (B), salience network activity (C), executive functions (D), and the default mode network (G). Results suggest lucidity involves increased self-visualization, metacognition, and executive processing, with decreased emotional processing and default mode network activity, indicating distinct network dynamics in lucid REM sleep.
Balancing Lucidity: Muscle and Vestibular Stimulation for Lucid Dream Induction
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) March 13, 2026 Emma Peters, Xinlin Wang, Kathrin Fischer et al.
Lucid dream induction using external sensory stimulation has often relied on lights or sounds, with mixed success. This study tested whether direct bodily stimulation—electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) and galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS)—could induce lucid dreams. Twenty-eight participants completed two morning naps: one with stimulation during REM sleep and one with sham control. EMS and GVS did not increase stimulus incorporation. Lucidity rates were high in both EMS conditions, suggesting baseline lucidity, cognitive training, and expectations played a role. However, GVS significantly increased externally rated lucidity and DLQ questionnaire scores compared to control, indicating that galvanic vestibular stimulation can enhance dream lucidity.
Waking Up in the Dream Lab: A Lab-Based Lucid Dream Induction Paradigm Using Virtual Reality and Sensory Stimulation
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) March 12, 2026 Emma Peters, Johanna Heitmann, Nicolas Morath et al.
Lucid dreaming, where the dreamer knows they are dreaming, can be triggered in a lab by training people to associate the sleep laboratory with reflective awareness before sleep. In three studies with 101 participants, a morning nap followed verbal instructions and audio primes. Some conditions added immersive virtual reality rehearsal of the lab, haptic stimulation during REM sleep, or virtual reality with fake system errors. Across all conditions, 40-45% of dreams were rated lucid, and 11-32% were signal-verified lucid dreams. However, the extra virtual reality and haptic techniques did not increase lucidity compared to the basic lab training alone. This suggests that simply training people to recognize the lab context is a powerful method.
Revisiting auditory-triggered reality checks in lucid dream induction: A sleep laboratory study
University Library Heidelberg March 10, 2026 Xinlin Wang, Johanna Heitmann, Lorenzo de Neri et al.
Lucid dreaming is a state where dreamers know they are dreaming and may control dream content. It offers a model for studying cognition during sleep and potential therapeutic uses, but reliable induction methods remain under investigation. This study combined Tholey's critical reflection technique with an acoustic cue to induce lucid dreams. Participants completed a two-day training on a reality-check task paired with the cue, then spent a night in the lab where the same cue was played during REM sleep. Of 15 participants, one reported a lucid dream meeting strict criteria. Future research should refine the experimental design.
Juggling the Limits of Lucidity: Searching for Cognitive Constraints in Dream Motor Practice
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) February 14, 2025 Emma Peters, Kathrin Fischer, Daniel Erlacher preprint
Lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is aware they are dreaming, could be used for motor practice, well-being, and nightmare therapy, but such applications require dream control. This investigation tested whether eight healthy participants (aged 24-50) could juggle—a complex motor skill—within a lucid dream. Four participants had lucid dreams, and two successfully juggled, demonstrating high dream control. Trait differences, including belief, motivation, and self-efficacy, appeared to influence dream control abilities. The small sample limits conclusions, but the findings suggest psychological traits play a role in dream control, laying groundwork for future research to optimize lucid dreaming applications in therapy, sports training, and cognitive science.