Intentionally awakening from sleep through lucid dreaming
Cameron Sandell, Tadas Stumbrys, Ken A Paller, Remington Mallett
PsyArXiv June 30, 2023 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/zscd4 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study |
|---|---|
| Population | Healthy participants who experienced lucid dreams |
| Topics | Dreaming Lucid dreaming |
| Key findings | Participants who attempted to wake up from a lucid dream by closing their eyes reported waking sooner after the task than those who clenched their fists. Higher lucidity and lucid-dream skills were correlated with quicker waking and reduced negative emotions. The authors argue that intentionally waking from sleep during lucid dreaming is possible and could be a trainable therapeutic approach to relieve nightmare suffering. |
Abstract
Standard treatments for nightmares focus on waking activities, with consequences for subsequent sleep. An alternative strategy may be to provide people with a novel way to learn to end a nightmare by waking up. People typically think of sleep as a state that they cannot control, but there are exceptions to this rule. For example, the ability to select dream content in a lucid dream might allow one to wake up deliberately, thus countering the typical helplessness of nightmares. However, documented evidence that this strategy can work is lacking. Therefore, we recruited healthy participants to complete a task during their next lucid dream; they were instructed either to attempt to wake up or to clench their fists. In the former case, we offered several options for how to wake up. After sleep, participants responded to a detailed survey about their dream and their subsequent awakening experience. Relative to those who clenched their fists, participants who attempted to wake up from the dream by closing their eyes reported waking up sooner after task completion. Furthermore, higher levels of lucidity and lucid-dream skills while dreaming were correlated with a quicker wake-up time and reduced negative emotions. This research showed that people can succeed in waking up from sleep intentionally while lucid dreaming. Because lucid dreaming is trainable, training for waking up in this way could constitute a viable therapeutic approach to relieve nightmare suffering.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming Verified by Volitional Communication during Rem Sleep Selected subjects proficient in lucid dreaming | 1981 | Experimental study | n = 5 |
| Lucid Dreaming and Alpha Activity: A Preliminary Report Good dream recallers | 1982 | Experimental study | n = 10 |
| Lucid dreaming during NREM sleep: Two case reports | 2012 | Sleep laboratory study | |
| Time for actions in lucid dreams: effects of task modality, length, and complexity Proficient lucid dreamers | 2014 | Experimental study | n = 21 |
| Combining presleep cognitive training and REM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction. Participants who came to the laboratory for a nap session at 7:30 am or 11:00 am,... | 2020 | Controlled laboratory experiment |
Citations in the library
Cites 34
- The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews March 14, 2019
- Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A Pilot Study Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2006
- Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. Current Biology April 12, 2021
- Lucid Dreaming as a Treatment for Recurrent Nightmares Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics February 18, 2010
- The Phenomenology of Lucid Dreaming: An Online Survey The American Journal of Psychology April 21, 2014
and 29 more in the library