Skip to content

Virtual reality training of lucid dreaming.

Jarrod Gott, Leonore Bovy, Emma Peters, Sofia Tzioridou, Stefano Meo, Çağatay Demirel, Mahdad Jafarzadeh Esfahani, Pedro Reis Oliveira, Thomas Houweling, Alessandro Orticoni, Anke Rademaker, Diede Booltink, Rathiga Varatheeswaran, Carmen F M Van Hooijdonk, Mahmoud Chaabou, Anastasia Mangiaruga, Erik Van den Berge, Frederik D Weber, Simone Ritter, Martin Dresler

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences February 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0697 (opens in new tab)

Read Full Text
Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed
Population Volunteers
Intervention classical lucid dreaming training
Duration Four weeks
Topics Lucid dreaming Dreaming
Keywords Rem sleep Consciousness Dissociation Metacognition Virtual reality
Citations 33
Key findings VR-assisted lucid dreaming training led to significantly stronger increases in lucid dreaming compared to no training, with eye-signal-verified lucid dreams during polysomnography supporting the behavioral results.

Abstract

Metacognitive reflections on one's current state of mind are largely absent during dreaming. Lucid dreaming as the exception to this rule is a rare phenomenon; however, its occurrence can be facilitated through cognitive training. A central idea of respective training strategies is to regularly question one's phenomenal experience: is the currently experienced world real, or just a dream? Here, we tested if such lucid dreaming training can be enhanced with dream-like virtual reality (VR): over the course of four weeks, volunteers underwent lucid dreaming training in VR scenarios comprising dream-like elements, classical lucid dreaming training or no training. We found that VR-assisted training led to significantly stronger increases in lucid dreaming compared to the no-training condition. Eye signal-verified lucid dreams during polysomnography supported behavioural results. We discuss the potential mechanisms underlying these findings, in particular the role of synthetic dream-like experiences, incorporation of VR content in dream imagery serving as memory cues, and extended dissociative effects of VR session on subsequent experiences that might amplify lucid dreaming training during wakefulness. This article is part of the theme issue 'Offline perception: voluntary and spontaneous perceptual experiences without matching external stimulation'.

Comparable studies

Other randomized controlled trials on lucid dreaming, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A Pilot Study Chronic nightmare sufferers 2006 Randomized controlled trial n = 23
Testing the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in lucid dreaming: A tDCS study Participants spending three consecutive nights in a sleep laboratory 2013 Randomized controlled trial n = 19
Effectiveness of motor practice in lucid dreams: a comparison with physical and mental practice Adults who completed an online experiment 2015 Randomized controlled trial n = 68
Pre-sleep treatment with galantamine stimulates lucid dreaming: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study Adults with high dream recall and an interest in lucid dreaming 2018 Randomized crossover trial n = 121
Studies with lucid dreaming as add-on therapy to Gestalt therapy Adults with nightmares (ICD-10: F51.5) at least twice a week 2015 Randomized controlled trial n = 32

Citations in the library

Cited by 24

and 19 more in the library

Cites 20

and 15 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Lucid dreaming Dreaming Meditation