Portable Devices to Induce Lucid Dreams—Are They Reliable?
Sérgio Mota-Rolim, Achilleas Pavlou, George Nascimento, John Fontenele Araújo, Sidarta Ribeiro
Frontiers in Neuroscience May 8, 2019 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00428 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Lucid dreaming |
| Keywords | Sleep system call Circadian rhythm Cognitive psychology Operating system |
| Citations | 25 |
| Key findings | Ten portable devices for inducing lucid dreams are reviewed, which use EEG detection of REM sleep and sensory cues or tACS to induce lucidity. |
Abstract
One of the main current challenges in lucid dreaming (LD) research is to develop a simple and reliable way to induce it (Stumbrys et al., 2012). This is because, for most people, LD is very pleasurable but also very rare (LaBerge and Rheingold, 1990; Mota-Rolim et al., 2013). Along with its recreational nature, LD also has potential clinical applications, such as the treatment of recurrent nightmares in post-traumatic stress disorder (Aurora et al., 2010; Mota-Rolim and Araujo, 2013; Morgenthaler et al., 2018). This has attracted the attention of high-tech companies, which have been launching portable LD induction devices commercially available to the general public. This equipment captures electroencephalographic (EEG) activity for the online detection of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the sleep stage associated with typical dreaming (Aserinsky and Kleitman, 1953; Dement and Kleitman, 1957; for review, see Hobson et al., 2000). To induce lucidity, most devices provide visual, auditory, and/or tactile stimuli as sensory cues, which can become incubated into the dream content to alert dreamers that they are dreaming but without waking them up (LaBerge et al., 1981a; LaBerge and Levitan, 1995). Other devices provide transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) of the frontal cortex (Voss et al., 2014). Here we review 10 such devices: DreamLight, NovaDreamer, Aurora, Remee, REM-Dreamer, ZMax, Neuroon, iBand, LucidCatcher, and Aladdin.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming | 2019 | Review | |
| My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? | 2019 | Review | |
| What about dreams? State of the art and open questions | 2022 | Review | |
| The Dream of God: How Do Religion and Science See Lucid Dreaming and Other Conscious States During Sleep? | 2020 | Review | |
| Insight and Dissociation in Lucid Dreaming and Psychosis | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 13
- My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? Frontiers in Psychology 2019
- Dream lucidity is associated with positive waking mood. Consciousness and Cognition August 1, 2020
- Is There a Link Between Frequency of Dreams, Lucid Dreams, and Subjective Sleep Quality? Frontiers in Psychology 2020
- Findings From the International Lucid Dream Induction Study. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
- Validation of the Spanish Version of the Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams Scale. Frontiers in Psychology 2021
and 8 more in the library
Cites 17
- 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
- Lucid Dreaming Verified by Volitional Communication during Rem Sleep Perceptual and Motor Skills June 1, 1981
- The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews March 14, 2019
- Lucid Dreaming as a Learnable Skill: A Case Study Perceptual and Motor Skills December 1, 1980
and 12 more in the library