Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience
Stephen LaBerge, Donald J. Degracia
Advances in Consciousness Research February 15, 2000 DOI: 10.1075/aicr.20.14lab (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 | Perception Cognitive psychology Embodied cognition Modalities Eroticism Cognitive science Epistemology |
| Citations | 77 |
| Key points | Argues that lucid dreaming experience is subject to individual variation due to anatomical, physiological, and psychological factors. |
Abstract
What can we conclude from the above quotations? Certainly nothing regarding the nature of eroticism in the lucid dream state. Rather, they illustrate that the experience of lucid dreaming is subject to individual variation. This should not be surprising, since lucid dreaming, like all forms of conscious experience, is comprised of a flow of subjective events created by brain processes using input from sensory-perceptual modalities, internal algorithms or schemata and, perhaps, poorly understood neuronal activity associated with central nervous system homeostatic maintenance. Variability in individual experience is inherent at all levels: anatomical in the form of limitations imposed by breath and sensory system development, physiological as sleep and REM sleep needs, inborn activation and damping tendencies, and psychological variation caused by recent and long-term experiences, the development of habits of interaction with the environment, and assumptions about the way the world works.