Lucid Dreaming Brain Network Based on Tholey's 7 Klartraum Criteria.
Brigitte Holzinger, Lucille Mayer
Frontiers in Psychology 2020 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01885 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Lucid dreaming Dreaming |
| Keywords | Klartraum Brain regions Choice Consciousness Free will Pre-lucid Self-awareness |
| Citations | 15 |
| Key points | Proposes that a brain network, rather than a single region, emerges during lucid dreaming that is more than the sum of its parts. |
Abstract
Lucid dreaming refers to a dream state characterized by the dreamers' awareness of being in a dream and being able to volitionally control its content. The aim of this study was to describe and model neurophysiological evidence for the seven awareness criteria of lucid dreaming based on those proposed by Paul Tholey. Each of the awareness criteria was analyzed separately with regard to its underlying neurocircuits. We hypothesized that not one, but several regions are involved in the state of lucid dreaming. Our results have shown a satisfactory overlap of the awareness criteria and the brain regions activated. During lucid dreaming, a brain network seems to emerge, that is something other than the sum of its parts. Further research is needed to understand the psychoneurological underpinnings of lucid dreams.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| What I make up when I wake up: anti-experience views and narrative fabrication of dreams | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| New perspectives for the study of lucid dreaming: From brain stimulation to philosophical theories of self-consciousness | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Lucid dreaming: Evidence and methodology | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 10
- The effectiveness of lucid dreaming therapy in patients with nightmares: A systematic review. L'Encephale October 1, 2023
- Predictive coding, multisensory integration, and attentional control: A multicomponent framework for lucid dreaming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 1, 2022
- To be or not to be hallucinating: Implications of hypnagogic/hypnopompic experiences and lucid dreaming for brain disorders. PNAS Nexus December 19, 2023
- Sleep Paralysis and Lucid Dreaming-Between Waking and Dreaming: A Review about Two Extraordinary States. Journal of Clinical Medicine May 12, 2023
- The clinical neuroscience of lucid dreaming. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews January 14, 2025
and 5 more in the library
Cites 32
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and problems Nature Reviews Neuroscience April 20, 2016
- The default-mode, ego-functions and free-energy: a neurobiological account of Freudian ideas Brain February 28, 2010
- Linking Out-of-Body Experience and Self Processing to Mental Own-Body Imagery at the Temporoparietal Junction Journal of Neuroscience January 19, 2005
- Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Sleep September 1, 2009
and 27 more in the library