Acetylcholine and metacognition during sleep.
Jarrod Gott, Sina Stücker, Philipp Kanske, Jan Haaker, Martin Dresler
Consciousness and Cognition 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103608 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Lucid dreaming |
| Keywords | Acetylcholine Metacognition Rem sleep |
| Citations | 22 |
| Key findings | Acetylcholine may be involved in lucid dreaming, but the causal mechanisms remain unmodelled and unknown. |
Abstract
Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator involved in a variety of cognitive functions. Additionally, acetylcholine is involved in the regulation of REM sleep: cholinergic neurons in the brainstem and basal forebrain project to and innervate wide areas of the cerebral cortex, and reciprocally interact with other neuromodulatory systems, to produce the sleep-wake cycle and different sleep stages. Consciousness and cognition vary considerably across and within sleep stages, with metacognitive capacity being strikingly reduced even during aesthetically and emotionally rich dream experiences. A notable exception is the phenomenon of lucid dreaming-a rare state whereby waking levels of metacognitive awareness are restored during sleep-resulting in individuals becoming aware of the fact that they are dreaming. The role of neurotransmitters in these fluctuations of consciousness and cognition during sleep is still poorly understood. While recent studies using acetylcholinesterase inhibitors suggest a potential role of acetylcholine in the occurrence of lucid dreaming, the underlying mechanisms by which this effect is produced remains un-modelled and unknown; with the causal link between cholinergic mechanisms and upstream psychological states being complex and elusive. Several theories and approaches targeting the association between acetylcholine and metacognition during wakefulness and sleep are highlighted in this review, moving through microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic levels of analysis to detail this phenomenon at several organisational scales. Several exploratory hypotheses will be developed to guide future research towards fully articulating how metacognition is affected by activity at the acetylcholine receptor.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming | 2019 | Review | |
| My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? | 2019 | Review | |
| What about dreams? State of the art and open questions | 2022 | Review | |
| The Dream of God: How Do Religion and Science See Lucid Dreaming and Other Conscious States During Sleep? | 2020 | Review | |
| Insight and Dissociation in Lucid Dreaming and Psychosis | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Out-of-body experiences in relation to lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis: A theoretical review and conceptual model. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews August 1, 2024
- Neuropsychopharmacological Induction of (Lucid) Dreams: A Narrative Review. Brain Sciences April 25, 2024
- Mexican calea (Calea zacatechichi Schltdl.) interferes with cholinergic and dopaminergic pathways and causes neuroglial toxicity. Journal of Ethnopharmacology January 30, 2025
- How Adversarial REM Dreams May Facilitate Creativity, and Why We Become Aware of Them Clinical and Translational Neuroscience June 26, 2024
- Bridging dream and wake states: a new tool for consciousness research. Neuroscience of Consciousness 2026
Cites 30
- Out‐of‐body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin Brain January 15, 2004
- Neural Correlates of Dream Lucidity Obtained from Contrasting Lucid versus Non-Lucid REM Sleep: A Combined EEG/fMRI Case Study Sleep June 29, 2012
- The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews March 14, 2019
- Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A Pilot Study Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2006
- Simultaneous population pharmacokinetic modelling of ketamine and three major metabolites in patients with treatment‐resistant bipolar depression British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology February 1, 2012
and 25 more in the library