Psychological Medicine
June 15, 2018
Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Dayanna Barreto, Heloisa Onias et al.
827 citations
A single dose of ayahuasca reduced depression severity more than placebo in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Over seven days, depression scores on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale were significantly lower in the ayahuasca group at days 1 and 2, and even more so at day 7. Response rates at day 7 were 64% for ayahuasca versus 27% for placebo, and remission rates showed a trend toward significance (36% vs. 7%). Effect sizes grew from day 1 to day 7, indicating sustained improvement. This is the first controlled trial to test a psychedelic substance in treatment-resistant depression, supporting ayahuasca's safety and therapeutic value when used in an appropriate setting.
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
March 14, 2019
Benjamin Baird, Sérgio Mota-Rolim, Martin Dresler
196 citations
Lucid dreaming is becoming aware that one is dreaming while still asleep. This review of neuroscientific studies—including electroencephalographic, neuroimaging, brain lesion, pharmacological, and brain stimulation research—finds that evidence is limited and often mixed. Electroencephalographic studies are mostly underpowered and show inconsistent results. Neuroimaging data are scant but suggest involvement of prefrontal and parietal regions. Combining mental-set training with cholinergic stimulation shows promise for inducing lucid dreams, while electrical brain stimulation's effectiveness remains unclear. The review also covers best-practice measurement strategies for sleep laboratories. Lucid dreaming has clinical and scientific applications, especially for studying consciousness, but further research with larger samples and refined methods is needed.
Medical Hypotheses
July 6, 2013
Sérgio Mota-Rolim, John Fontenele Araújo
50 citations
Lucid dreaming—being aware of dreaming during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep—may be linked to increased frontal lobe activity, contrasting with psychosis, which involves reduced frontal activity and dream-like features intruding into wakefulness. The authors propose that frontal brain stimulation during REM sleep could trigger lucid dreams, offering a test of this hypothesis. They suggest lucid dreaming research could advance understanding of consciousness and its disorders, serve as therapy for recurrent nightmares in depression and PTSD, and aid physical rehabilitation through motor imagery during dreams.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
January 1, 2013
Sérgio Mota-Rolim, Zé H. Targino, Bryan C. Souza et al.
42 citations
Dreams typically involve actions, known people, sounds, and colors, and often relate to upcoming plans or recent memories. Nightmares frequently feature anxiety, being stalked, or other unpleasant sensations. Lucid dreaming—knowing one is dreaming—was experienced at least once by 77% of a Brazilian sample of 3,427 people, but episodes were brief (under one minute for 48%) and control was rare (29%). Lucid dreaming was more common when people did not need to wake early or were under stress, conditions that increase REM sleep. These findings suggest lucid dreaming is a widespread but unstable human experience, consistent with data from other continents.
PLoS One
July 23, 2020
Joshua M. Martin, Danyal Wainstein Andriano, Natália Bezerra Mota et al.
41 citations
Dream reports collected after rapid eye movement (REM) sleep are typically longer, more vivid, and more story-like than those from non-REM sleep, but traditional measures may be confounded by report length. By analyzing 133 dream reports from 20 participants as non-semantic directed word graphs, researchers found that REM dream reports have greater connectedness—words recur with longer range—compared to N2 sleep reports. Graph measures predicted dream complexity, with higher connectedness and lower randomness linked to more complex reports. The largest connected component improved models using report length alone for predicting sleep stage and complexity. Graph analysis offers an automated method to complement traditional dream report analysis.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 8, 2016
Natália B. Mota, Adara Resende, Sérgio Mota-Rolim et al.
38 citations
People with psychosis report more control over their lucid dreams than non-psychotic individuals, contrary to the hypothesis that lucid dreaming might be therapeutically beneficial for psychotic patients. Among 45 subjects with psychotic symptoms (25 with schizophrenia, 20 with bipolar disorder) and 28 non-psychotic controls, psychotic lucid dreamers reported controlling their dreams more frequently (67% of schizophrenia and 73% of bipolar patients) than non-psychotic lucid dreamers (23% of controls). However, lucid dreamers with psychosis showed no clinical advantage, even on measures of judgment and insight. The findings suggest psychosis may enhance the ability to control internal reality, and that training lucid dreaming in psychotic populations could potentially strengthen delusions and hallucinations rather than provide therapeutic benefit.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2020
Sérgio Mota-Rolim, Kelly Bulkeley, Stephany Campanelli et al.
31 citations
Religions have long recognized lucid dreaming (LD) as an important conscious state, predating modern scientific study by millennia. Hindu texts over 2,000 years old divide consciousness into waking, dreaming (including LD), and deep sleep. Tibetan Buddhists practice Dream Yoga to recognize dreams, overcome fears, and control dream content. Islam regards LD as a valuable mental state for mystical experiences. Christian theologian Augustine described LD as a preview of the afterlife. Spiritism in the nineteenth century linked LD to out-of-body experiences. Abrahamic religions view dreams as communication with God, while Indian traditions cultivate self-awareness through LD induction techniques. These historical religious insights can inform current scientific research on LD phenomenology.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
May 8, 2019
Sérgio Mota-Rolim, Achilleas Pavlou, George Nascimento et al.
25 citations
Lucid dreaming is rare but pleasurable and has potential clinical uses, such as treating nightmares in PTSD. Researchers have been developing portable devices to induce lucid dreams. These devices detect REM sleep via EEG and then deliver visual, auditory, or tactile cues to alert the dreamer without waking them, or use transcranial alternating current stimulation of the frontal cortex. This review covers 10 such devices: DreamLight, NovaDreamer, Aurora, Remee, REM-Dreamer, ZMax, Neuroon, iBand, LucidCatcher, and Aladdin.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
January 27, 2017
Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Dayanna Barreto, Heloisa Onias et al.
22 citations
preprint
A single dose of ayahuasca produced significant antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression compared to placebo. Depression severity, measured by the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), was significantly lower in the ayahuasca group at one, two, and seven days after dosing. Effect sizes increased over time, reaching a Cohen's d of 1.49 at day seven. Response rates were significantly higher in the ayahuasca group at day seven (64% vs. 27%), and remission rates were marginally significant (36% vs. 7%). This controlled trial supports the safety and therapeutic value of ayahuasca in treating depression.
May 16, 2023
William Wong, Kátia C. Andrade, Thomas Andrillon et al.
21 citations
preprint
A new open-access database, DREAM, combines sleep magneto/electroencephalography (M/EEG) recordings with standardized dream reports to enable large-scale neurocognitive research on dreaming. The initial release includes 20 datasets from 561 participants and 2649 awakenings, each with at least 20 seconds of high-frequency M/EEG data and a classification of the subject's experience. Analyses demonstrate that features extracted from EEG can predict whether a person reports having had a conscious experience during both REM and NREM sleep. The database aims to overcome the limitations of small sample sizes and methodological variability in dream research, allowing new questions to be addressed at a scale unattainable by individual labs.
Nature and Science of Sleep
August 1, 2022
Brigitte Holzinger, Franziska Nierwetberg, Frances Chung et al.
16 citations
High nightmare frequency (≥1–2 nights/week) rose from 13.24% to 22.35% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors associated with high nightmare frequency included self-reported post-traumatic stress symptoms (OR=2.11), other mental disorders, sleep problems, financial burden, confinement, having had COVID-19, and work situation. Post-traumatic stress symptoms partly mediated the relationship between pandemic-related stressors and nightmare frequency. The authors conclude that the pandemic caused traumatization in a substantial proportion of society and suggest that health care workers screen for nightmares as an indicator of post-traumatic stress symptoms and other disorders.
Journal of Clinical Medicine
June 6, 2023
Maria Eduarda Sodré, Isabel Wießner, Muna Irfan et al.
15 citations
Sleep is increasingly understood as a local brain phenomenon, not just a whole-brain process, with different states of consciousness—wakefulness, sleep onset, light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep—able to occur simultaneously, leading to dissociative states. These are classified as physiological (daydreaming, lucid dreaming, false awakenings), pathological (sleep paralysis, sleepwalking, REM sleep behavior disorder), and altered (hypnosis, anesthesia, psychedelics). The article reviews the neurophysiology and phenomenology of these states, concluding that their study is important for understanding consciousness and treating neuropsychiatric diseases.
January 1, 2021
Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Sérgio Mota-Rolim, Bruno Lobão‐soares et al.
11 citations
Ayahuasca shows promise as a potent alternative medicine for treating depression and anxiety. In a study involving 100 participants, 70% reported significant mood improvements after just one session, outperforming traditional antidepressants. Biochemical analysis revealed that ayahuasca influences neurotransmitter receptors, potentially reshaping behavior and emotional well-being. Participants also noted reduced symptoms of anxiety, highlighting its potential in psychiatry. This suggests psychedelics could play a vital role in future drug studies, offering new avenues for mental health treatment beyond conventional methods.
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.
Brain Sciences
April 25, 2024
Abel A Oldoni, André D Bacchi, Fúlvio R Mendes et al.
4 citations
Lucid dreaming, a state where dreamers know they are dreaming and may control the dream, is naturally rare, prompting interest in induction methods. This review examines neuropsychopharmacological approaches, covering sleep regulation, REM sleep control via neurotransmission, and the brain areas involved in lucidity. Substances that boost cholinergic or dopaminergic transmission, like galantamine, show potential for inducing lucid dreaming by increasing metacognition, REM sleep, or dream recall. However, the complexity of these neurotransmitter systems makes interpreting results challenging. The authors conclude that while promising, more research is needed to develop a reliable pharmacological method for inducing lucid dreaming.
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.
Journal of Psychopharmacology
December 4, 2025
Natan Silva-Costa, Jéssica Andrade Pessoa, Kátia Cristina Andrade et al.
Ayahuasca produces profound changes in perception, cognition, and emotion, including mystical experiences and altered mind-wandering, while decreasing global alpha brain oscillations and increasing frontomedial delta and right posterior theta and beta. Lower theta during the experience is linked to stronger mystical experiences, and higher alpha is associated with less thought about nothing. Baseline brain activity before taking ayahuasca can predict some subjective effects: lower baseline theta predicts stronger bodily awareness and interoception, and lower baseline beta predicts greater positive emotionality.
Journal of Sleep Research
April 1, 2026
Severin Ableidinger, Luigi De Gennaro, Sérgio Mota-Rolim et al.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, about 30% of people frequently knew they were dreaming (lucid dreaming), and roughly half of those (17%) could influence their dreams (lucid dreaming with agency). Female gender and anxiety symptoms were linked to less ability to influence dreams, while dream recall, nightmares, insomnia, dream enactment behavior, sleep vocalization, short and long COVID, and PTSD were linked to more ability. Older age, dream recall, nightmares, and anxiety were linked to lucid dreaming without agency, while short sleep, being an evening type, and short COVID were linked to less of it. The different patterns suggest lucid dreaming with and without agency may be distinct sleep states, and this is the first study showing COVID-19 and long COVID are associated with lucid dreaming.
Journal of Sleep Research
February 1, 2026
Courtney J Bolstad, Bjørn Bjorvatn, Ngan Yin Chan et al.
In a large multi-country survey of 15,854 adults, frequent dream recall (at least weekly) was reported by 54.0% of participants in 2021 and 51.1% in 2019. Frequent nightmares rose from 6.9% in 2019 to 11.0% in 2021, suggesting an increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dream recall showed a linear relationship with sleep duration, while nightmare frequency had a quadratic relationship. Prevalence rates varied by age, gender, and country. This is the first multi-continent study to provide these prevalence estimates across 16 countries, including some never studied before.
Journal of Sleep Research
October 1, 2024
Courtney J Bolstad, Brigitte Holzinger, Serena Scarpelli et al.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, suicidal ideation was 2% lower overall than before, while nightmare frequency increased by 4.50%. Data from 9328 individuals across 16 countries showed that suicidal ideation decreased significantly in Austria, Sweden, and Bulgaria but rose non-significantly in Italy and Portugal. Participants with long-COVID reported higher rates of suicidal ideation (21.10%) than those with short-COVID (12.40%), though ideation did not differ by COVID-19 history alone. Nightmare frequency was higher in those with prior COVID-19 (14.50% vs. 10.70%), during active infection (23.00% vs. 8.10%), and in long-COVID (18.00% vs. 8.50%). Frequent nightmares during the pandemic increased the odds of suicidal ideation (OR = 1.
Nature and Science of Sleep
January 1, 2022
Serena Scarpelli, Michael R Nadorff, Bjørn Bjorvatn et al.
People reported more dream activity during the pandemic than before it. Those who had COVID-19 reported significantly more nightmares during the pandemic than matched controls who had not had COVID-19, while dream recall frequency did not differ between the groups. COVID-19 participants also had higher anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptom scores, and lower quality of life and well-being scores than controls. Nightmare frequency was predicted by dream recall frequency, PTSD, anxiety, insomnia, COVID-19 severity, sleep duration, and age. The findings suggest that the more severely people were affected by COVID-19, the greater the impact on dream activity and quality of life.
Nature and Science of Sleep
January 1, 2021
Eirin Fränkl, Serena Scarpelli, Michael R Nadorff et al.
Dream recall frequency increased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels across four continents. In a cross-sectional web survey of 19,355 individuals from 14 countries, high dream recall (three or more nights per week) was associated with female gender, nightmares, sleep talking, sleep maintenance problems, symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder, and repeated disturbing thoughts indicative of PTSD. Older adults aged 55-64 reported less high dream recall than younger participants. While unadjusted analyses showed associations between depression, anxiety, and dream recall, adjusted analyses revealed negative associations: depression and anxiety were linked to lower odds of high dream recall. The findings suggest that the pandemic's emotional intensity is reflected in dreams.