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LUCID DREAMS AND OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES REPORTS: DIFFERENCES IN EMOTIONAL CONTENT, DREAM AWARENESS, AND DREAM CONTROL

Francisco T Gallo, Nerea L Herrero, Antonela Tommasel, Daniela Godoy, Ignacio Spiousas, Miguel Gasca-Rolín, Rodrigo Ramele, Pablo M Gleiser, Cecilia Forcato

PsyArXiv March 13, 2023 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/qf4z7 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational study
Sample size 60
Population Participants who provided dream reports over a two-month period
Duration Two-month period
Measures NRC Emotion Lexicon, Empath, Hall and Van de Castle dream content scoring system
Topics Dreaming Lucid dreaming
Key findings Out-of-body experience reports were characterized by more negative emotions than lucid and non-lucid dreams, and by more agency, insight, dream control, sensations, activities, prospective memory references, spatial and body references, and movement difficulties than lucid dreams. The authors argue these findings support the idea that OBEs are unique experiences distinguished from lucid dreams.

Abstract

Lucid dreams (LDs) and out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are phenomena characterized by the return of higher cognitive abilities during sleep, including reflective self-awareness and abstract thought. Given the similarities in reflective self-awareness between LDs and OBEs, some authors consider them variations of the same phenomenon. This study aimed to compare the differences in content between non-LDs, LDs, and OBEs obtained from 60 participants over a two-month period, with 916 dream reports collected. The dream reports were analyzed using automatic methods based on Lexicons such as NRC Emotion Lexicon and Empath, and were scored based on Hall and Van de Castle's dream content scoring system with variations and additional measures. Results showed that OBE dreams were characterized by higher occurrences of negative emotions compared to both lucid and non-lucid dreams as measured by automatic and manual scoring systems. Also, more OBE dream reports contained words related to agency and insight, higher manual scoring of dream control-related expressions, and more total sensations, dream activities, reference to prospective memory evocations, spatial and body references, and more difficulties with movement within the dream environment, than lucid dreams. The findings support the idea that OBEs represent unique experiences distinguished from lucid dreams.

Comparable studies

Other observational and cohort studies on lucid dreaming, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... 2009 Observational study n = 6
Neural Correlates of Dream Lucidity Obtained from Contrasting Lucid versus Non-Lucid REM Sleep: A Combined EEG/fMRI Case Study Experienced lucid dreamers 2012 Observational cohort n = 4
Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. Individuals during REM sleep, including frequent lucid dreamers, a novice, and a... 2021 Observational study n = 36
Lucid Dreaming in Narcolepsy Consecutive patients with narcolepsy and healthy controls 2015 Case-control study n = 106
Metacognitive Mechanisms Underlying Lucid Dreaming Human participants split into high- and low-lucidity groups based on reported dream... 2015 Observational cohort

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