Testing the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in lucid dreaming: A tDCS study
Tadas Stumbrys, Daniel Erlacher, Michael Schredl
Consciousness and Cognition September 8, 2013 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.08.005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 19 |
| Population | Participants spending three consecutive nights in a sleep laboratory |
| Intervention | transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) |
| Dose | 1 mA for 10 min |
| Duration | Three consecutive nights |
| Measures | self-ratings of dream lucidity |
| Topics | Dreaming Lucid dreaming |
| Citations | 88 |
| Key findings | tDCS over the DLPFC during REM sleep increased dream lucidity in frequent lucid dreamers, but effects were not strong. |
Abstract
Recent studies suggest that lucid dreaming (awareness of dreaming while dreaming) might be associated with increased brain activity over frontal regions during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. By applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), we aimed to manipulate the activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during REM sleep to increase dream lucidity. Nineteen participants spent three consecutive nights in a sleep laboratory. On the second and third nights they randomly received either 1 mA tDCS for 10 min or sham stimulation during each REM period starting with the second one. According to the participants' self-ratings, tDCS over the DLPFC during REM sleep increased lucidity in dreams. The effects, however, were not strong and found only in frequent lucid dreamers. While this indicates some preliminary support for the involvement of the DLPFC in lucid dreaming, further research, controlling for indirect effects of stimulation and including other brain regions, is needed.