Neurobiology and clinical implications of lucid dreaming
Sérgio Mota-Rolim, John Fontenele Araújo
Medical Hypotheses July 6, 2013 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2013.04.049 (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 | Psychosis Frontal lobe Consciousness Cognitive psychology |
| Citations | 50 |
| Key points | Proposes that lucid dreaming is associated with increased frontal activity during REMS and that psychosis and lucid dreaming are opposite phenomena. |
Abstract
Several lines of evidence converge to the idea that rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) is a good model to foster our understanding of psychosis. Both REMS and psychosis course with internally generated perceptions and lack of rational judgment, which is attributed to a hyperlimbic activity along with hypofrontality. Interestingly, some individuals can become aware of dreaming during REMS, a particular experience known as lucid dreaming (LD), whose neurobiological basis is still controversial. Since the frontal lobe plays a role in self-consciousness, working memory and attention, here we hypothesize that LD is associated with increased frontal activity during REMS. A possible way to test this hypothesis is to check whether transcranial magnetic or electric stimulation of the frontal region during REMS triggers LD. We further suggest that psychosis and LD are opposite phenomena: LD as a physiological awakening while dreaming due to frontal activity, and psychosis as a pathological intrusion of dream features during wake state due to hypofrontality. We further suggest that LD research may have three main clinical implications. First, LD could be important to the study of consciousness, including its pathologies and other altered states. Second, LD could be used as a therapy for recurrent nightmares, a common symptom of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Finally, LD may allow for motor imagery during dreaming with possible improvement of physical rehabilitation. In all, we believe that LD research may clarify multiple aspects of brain functioning in its physiological, altered and pathological states.
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 22
- The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews March 14, 2019
- My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? Frontiers in Psychology 2019
- Dream characteristics in a Brazilian sample: an online survey focusing on lucid dreaming Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- Structural differences between REM and non-REM dream reports assessed by graph analysis PLoS One July 23, 2020
- Psychosis and the Control of Lucid Dreaming Frontiers in Psychology March 8, 2016
and 17 more in the library
Cites 35
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- 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
- Monoamine oxidase inhibitors in South American hallucinogenic plants: Tryptamine and β-carboline constituents of Ayahuasca Journal of Ethnopharmacology April 1, 1984
- Out-of-body experience, heautoscopy, and autoscopic hallucination of neurological origin Brain Research Reviews July 13, 2005
and 30 more in the library