Effectiveness of motor practice in lucid dreams: a comparison with physical and mental practice
Tadas Stumbrys, Daniel Erlacher, Michael Schredl
Journal of Sports Sciences April 7, 2015 DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2015.1030342 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 68 |
| Population | Adults who completed an online experiment |
| Interventions | Lucid dream practice Mental practice Physical practice |
| Duration | Overnight (evening pre-test, night practice, morning post-test) |
| Topics | Lucid dreaming |
| Citations | 60 |
| Key findings | Lucid dream practice, physical practice, and mental practice all significantly improved finger-tapping performance from pre-test to post-test, while the control group showed no improvement. |
Abstract
Motor practice in lucid dreams is a form of mental rehearsal where the dreamer can consciously rehearse motor skills in the dream state while being physically asleep. A previous pilot study showed that practice in lucid dreams can improve subsequent performance. This study aimed to replicate those findings with a different task (finger-tapping) and compare the effectiveness of lucid dream practice (LDP) not only to physical but also to mental practice (MP) in wakefulness. An online experiment was completed by 68 participants within four groups: LDP group, MP group, physical practice (PP) group and control (no practice) group. Pre-test was accomplished in the evening, post-test in the next morning, while the practice was done during the night. All three practice groups significantly improved their performance from pre-test to post-test, but no significant improvements were observed for the control group. Subjective sleep quality was not affected by night practice. This study thus corroborates the previous findings that practice in lucid dreams is effective in improving performance. Its effects seem to be similar to actual PP and MP in wakefulness. Future studies should establish reliable techniques for lucid dream induction and verify the effects of LDP in sleep laboratory conditions.
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 |
| 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 |
| Increased lucid dream frequency in long-term meditators but not following MBSR training. Long-term meditators and meditation-naïve individuals | 2019 | Cross-sectional study and blinded randomized controlled trial |
Citations in the library
Cited by 38
- Lucid dreaming incidence: A quality effects meta-analysis of 50 years of research Consciousness and Cognition June 20, 2016
- Is It a Good Idea to Cultivate Lucid Dreaming? Frontiers in Psychology November 15, 2019
- Is there a relation among REM sleep dissociated phenomena, like lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences, and false awakening? Medical Hypotheses November 1, 2020
- Reality testing and the mnemonic induction of lucid dreams: Findings from the national Australian lucid dream induction study. Dreaming September 1, 2017
- Findings From the International Lucid Dream Induction Study. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
and 33 more in the library
Cites 10
- Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Sleep September 1, 2009
- Neural Correlates of Dream Lucidity Obtained from Contrasting Lucid versus Non-Lucid REM Sleep: A Combined EEG/fMRI Case Study Sleep June 29, 2012
- Frequency of Lucid Dreaming in a Representative German Sample Perceptual and Motor Skills February 1, 2011
- Practicing a Motor Task in a Lucid Dream Enhances Subsequent Performance: A Pilot Study The Sport Psychologist June 1, 2010
- Do REM (lucid) dreamed and executed actions share the same neural substrate? heiDOK (Heidelberg University) 2008
and 5 more in the library