Combining Wake-Up-Back-to-Bed with Cognitive Induction Techniques: Does Earlier Sleep Interruption Reduce Lucid Dream Induction Rate?
Daniel Erlacher, Vitus Furrer, Matthias Ineichen, John Braillard, Daniel Schmid
Clocks & Sleep April 20, 2022 DOI: 10.3390/clockssleep4020021 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 50 |
| Population | Participants in a sleep laboratory |
| Interventions | wake-up-back-to-bed (WBTB) sleep routine reality testing |
| Duration | Single sleep laboratory night |
| Topics | Lucid dreaming |
| Keywords | Mild Lucid dream induction Morning sleep Reality testing Sleep laboratory Wake-up-back-to-bed |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key findings | Shortening the initial sleep period to 4.5 hours and omitting REM awakenings reduced lucid dream induction rates, with reality testing proving less effective than the MILD technique. |
Abstract
Lucid dreaming offers the chance to investigate dreams from within a dream and by real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. This state of consciousness opens a new experimental venue for dream research. However, laboratory study in this field is limited due to the rarity of lucid dreamers. In a previous study, we were able to induce in 50% of the participants a lucid dream in a single sleep laboratory night by combining a wake-up-back-to-bed (WBTB) sleep routine and a mnemonic method (Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams, MILD). In three experiments, we tried to replicate our earlier findings while we adapted our procedure in shortening (Exp1-3: 4.5 vs. 6 h of uninterrupted sleep in the first half of the night), simplifying (Exp2: time-based wakening vs. REM wakening in the second half of the night), and applying another induction technique (Exp3: reality testing vs. MILD). In the three conditions, four out of 15 (26%), zero out of 20 (0%), and three out of 15 (20%) participants reported a lucid dream. Compared to the original study, the earlier sleep interruption seems to reduce the lucid dream induction rate. Furthermore, without REM awakenings in the morning, lucid dream induction failed, whereas reality testing showed a lower success rate compared to MILD. Further systematic sleep laboratory studies are needed to develop reliable techniques for lucid dream research.