'I love you': the first phrase detected from dreams.
Sleep Science 2022 DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20220035 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 4 |
| Population | Lucid dream practitioners |
| Topics | Lucid dreaming |
| Keywords | Consciousness Dreams Language Rem Sleep Vocalization |
| Citations | 8 |
| Key findings | The facial muscle EMG patterns for the phrase "I love you" produced during lucid dreaming matched those produced during wakefulness, with distinctive phasic activity in the submentalis for "I" and the orbicularis oris for "you". |
Abstract
Many people have dreams nightly and some maintain consciousness during dreams. Such dreams are referred to as lucid dreams (LD). During dreams, our speech correlates with facial muscle activity, which is hard to decode, but LD could solve this problem. The primary hypothesis of this study was that the facial muscles electric activity during LD corresponds to specific sounds. Understanding this connection could help decode dream speech in the future. Under laboratory conditions, four LD practitioners were asked to say "I love you", a phrase with a distinctive electromyographic (EMG) signature. They did this before falling asleep and then again after becoming conscious during a dream. Their facial and neck EMG was recorded in four areas. All four volunteers accomplished the goal at least once. The patterns associated with the "I love you" phrase were observed in most cases, both during wakefulness and LD. Specifically, the "I" triggered distinctive phasic activity in the submentalis area most of the time, while "you" did the same in the orbicularis oris. This study highlights the possibility of detecting only specific and highly EMG distinctive phrases from dreams because vocalization also involves a tong and vocal apparatus. The most interesting consequence of the present results is that they indicate the possibility of creating an artificial EMG language that could be instantly decoded in reality and used during LD.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming Verified by Volitional Communication during Rem Sleep Selected subjects proficient in lucid dreaming | 1981 | Experimental study | n = 5 |
| Lucid Dreaming and Alpha Activity: A Preliminary Report Good dream recallers | 1982 | Experimental study | n = 10 |
| Lucid dreaming during NREM sleep: Two case reports | 2012 | Sleep laboratory study | |
| Time for actions in lucid dreams: effects of task modality, length, and complexity Proficient lucid dreamers | 2014 | Experimental study | n = 21 |
| Combining presleep cognitive training and REM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction. Participants who came to the laboratory for a nap session at 7:30 am or 11:00 am,... | 2020 | Controlled laboratory experiment |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- To be or not to be hallucinating: Implications of hypnagogic/hypnopompic experiences and lucid dreaming for brain disorders. PNAS Nexus December 19, 2023
- Sleuthing subjectivity: a review of covert measures of consciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience May 23, 2025
- Detecting lucid dreams only by submentalis electromyography. Sleep Medicine December 1, 2021
- Detecting Lucid Dreams by Electroencephalography and Eyebrow Movements. Sleep Science December 1, 2023
- Dreamland—a dream content questionnaire in German based on the English version Somnologie: Schlafforschung und Schlafmedizin August 15, 2023
and 2 more in the library
Cites 39
- Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Sleep September 1, 2009
- Lucid Dreaming Verified by Volitional Communication during Rem Sleep Perceptual and Motor Skills June 1, 1981
- Dreaming in NREM Sleep: A High-Density EEG Study of Slow Waves and Spindles Journal of Neuroscience September 10, 2018
- A systematic review of variables associated with sleep paralysis Sleep Medicine Reviews June 8, 2017
- Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. Current Biology April 12, 2021
and 34 more in the library