Our results suggest that frequent lucid dreaming is associated with increased functional connectivity between aPFC and temporoparietal association areas, regions normally deactivated during sleep.
Generally, lucid dreaming is quite rare. Only one half of the general population know the phenomenon from personal experience, approximately 20% have lucid dreams on a monthly basis, and only a minority of approximately 1% have lucid dreams several times a week.
Lucid dreaming has the ability to increase awareness and control of the dreamer. Neurological evidence seems to support the seven awareness criteria suggested by Holzinger. During LD, not a single brain structure, but a whole network of brain regions is activated.
Some research has suggested that lucid dreaming and certain personality traits may be connected in some way. One study found that lucid dreamers tend to have a greater internal locus of control. They also score higher on measures of a need for cognition and creativity.
In a lucid dream your senses are heightened. Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch are all more extreme than what you would experience in real life. Emotional feelings may also be intensified. You'll feel a greater sense of happiness and pleasure from engaging in enjoyable activities.
Although some theorists have suggested that pain sensations cannot be part of the dreaming world, research has shown that pain sensations occur in about 1% of the dreams in healthy persons and in about 30% of patients with acute, severe pain.
Lucid dreaming can actually scare some people because of the possible physical side effects it can cause. If a lucid dream is nightmarish or otherwise active, it can cause a sleeper to experience night sweats, increased heart rate, and increased respiration.
In a 2014 study, researchers from the University of Lincoln found that lucid dreamer showed greater insight in waking life, with better than average problem-solving abilities.
Another report suggested that “a shift in brain activity in the direction of waking” during REM sleep dreaming causes the move towards lucid dreaming, creating a “hybrid” situation involving “features of both REM sleep and waking.”
Although spontaneous commencement of lucid dreaming can occur as early as age 3, it seems most likely to happen around age 12–14 years and much less likely to occur after age 25 (Figure 1).
1. Being chased. Being chased is one of the most common nightmares. If you dream that you're being chased by something, whether it's an 8-foot-tall rabbit or a shrouded figure, then it's an indicator that you're running away from something or someone in real life.
Lucid Nightmares
Lucid dreaming is still dreaming, and like happens with ordinary dreams, your lucid dreams will sometimes turn into nightmares. Since you are self-aware, coupled with the fact that lucid dreams are usually more vivid than ordinary dreams, lucid nightmares can be extremely terrifying.
Dreams feel real because we use the same brain to process them! Parts of the brain that process “real” sensory information in wakefulness are active in REM sleep. The more rational parts of our brain only switch on in wakefulness. This is why dreams play out like any “real” experience!
Although their visual dream content is reduced, other senses are enhanced in dreams of the blind. A dreaming blind person experiences more sensations of sound, touch, taste, and smell than sighted people do. Blind people are also more likely to have certain types of dreams than sighted people.
How Long Do Lucid Dreams Last? Lucid dreams can feel like they're going on forever but only last from ten minutes to one hour.
However, lucid dreaming can inhibit relaxing and restful sleep, and the more involved you are in directing your dreams, the less benefit you'll get from the hours you spend in bed.
Having vivid dreams every night that you recall (which may also involve physical actions or verbal outbursts) can be an indication that something is disrupting your dreaming sleep, such as sleep apnoea (which is worse during REM sleep), narcolepsy (when the switch that involves going in and out of sleep goes awry) or ...
While recurring dreams and disorienting dream loops are common during lucid dreams, it is not possible to get actually get stuck.
It is our observation (Voss et al., unpublished) that dreamers often experience their lucid dreams to be emotionally neutral, sometimes accompanied by a sense of achievement (“I did it!” and “success!”) and euphoria after awakening, both instances falling under the category of what Lewis (1995) refers to as “self- ...
Lucid dreaming happens when you're aware that you're dreaming. Often, you can control the dream's storyline and environment. It occurs during REM sleep. When used in therapy, lucid dreaming can help treat conditions like recurring nightmares and PTSD.
There can be a number of psychological triggers that cause nightmares in adults. For example, anxiety and depression can cause adult nightmares. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also commonly causes people to experience chronic, recurrent nightmares. Nightmares in adults can be caused by certain sleep disorders.
"Epic dreaming was described by Schenck and Mahowald in 1995 and represents a dreaming disorder characterized by endless and exhausting dreams associated with morning tiredness and chronic daytime fatigue. The condition shows a strong female predominance (85%).
You can help prevent lucid dreams by getting a good night's rest regularly. By developing a good sleeping pattern, staying caffeine and alcohol free as nighttime approaches, and sleeping on your side, you are likely to have less lucid dreams.
You feel scared, anxious, angry, sad or disgusted as a result of your dream. You feel sweaty or have a pounding heartbeat while in bed. You can think clearly upon awakening and can recall details of your dream. Your dream causes distress that keeps you from falling back to sleep easily.