Exploring the link between synesthesia and lucid dreaming through perceptual presence
Frontiers in Psychology February 26, 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1733841 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 616 |
| Population | Adults recruited online |
| Topics | Lucid dreaming Dreaming |
| Keywords | Synesthesia Perception Openness to experience Cognition Consciousness Personality Cognitive psychology Dynamics music Automatism medicine Mental image |
| Key findings | Perceptual synesthesia subtypes (Visualized sensation, Spatial Sequence) are positively associated with lucid dreaming facets such as control, insight, and positive emotion, while conceptual synesthesia subtypes (Language-Color, OLP) show negative interactions with Openness and Extraversion that attenuate lucid-dream experiences. |
Abstract
This study investigates links between synesthesia and lucid dreaming via perceptual presence and counterfactual-richness (abundant possible sensorimotor contingencies). We hypothesized that synesthetes would report more frequent lucid dreams because enhanced counterfactual-richness facilitates dream control and clarity. We surveyed 616 adults using a synesthesia self-report, the Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams scale (LuCiD), and the Big-5 inventory (TIPI-J). Cluster analysis validated four synesthesia subtypes- Language-Color, Ordinal Linguistic Personification (OLP), Spatial Sequence, and Visualized sensation-consistent with prior work. Regression analyses revealed type-specific effects on lucid dreaming: perceptual synesthesia (Visualized sensation, Spatial Sequence) robustly promoted lucid-dream facets-especially control, and also insight, dissociation, and positive emotion-whereas conceptual synesthesia (Language-Color, OLP) showed negative interactions with Openness and Extraversion, thereby attenuating lucid-dream experiences. Personality analyses further confirmed positive associations between lucid dreaming and Openness and Extraversion, aligning with previous literature. We interpret perceptual synesthesia as an expression of excessive counterfactual-richness that enhances perceptual presence and sensorimotor contingencies during dreaming. These findings both clarify qualitative differences within synesthetic experience and suggest a new direction for understanding synesthesia and lucid dreaming as interconnected cognitive phenomena.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Phenomenology of Lucid Dreaming: An Online Survey Respondents to an online survey about lucid dreams | 2014 | Online survey | n = 684 |
| Frequency of Lucid Dreaming in a Representative German Sample Representative sample of German adults | 2011 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 919 |
| Lucid dreaming: an age‐dependent brain dissociation Students aged 6-19 years | 2012 | Survey | |
| Terror and bliss? Commonalities and distinctions between sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, and their associations with waking life experiences Adults aged 18–82 years | 2016 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 1,928 |
| Increased Lucid Dreaming Frequency in Narcolepsy Patients diagnosed with narcolepsy and healthy control subjects | 2015 | Cross-sectional study | n = 979 |
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Sleep September 1, 2009
- A predictive processing theory of sensorimotor contingencies: Explaining the puzzle of perceptual presence and its absence in synesthesia Cognitive Neuroscience January 21, 2014
- An extended case study on the phenomenology of sequence-space synesthesia Frontiers in Human Neuroscience July 3, 2014
- Lucid dreaming and personality in children/adolescents and adults: The UK library study ORCA Online Research @Cardiff 2016
- Recall of Lucid Dreaming and Personality Traits: Analysis of the Big Five and Stress Coping Style among Chinese University Students The Japanese Journal of Personality October 21, 2024
and 3 more in the library