Last year, more than two dozen studies on lucid dreaming (LD) were published in international scientific journals. The leaders in this respect were the USA and Russia, with five papers published by representatives of each. All the Russian publications came from the Phase Research Center, a research unit of REMspace.
In January, Michael Raduga presented a detailed description of the indirect method. Then an international group of scientists led by Karen Konkoly published the results of an experiment on communicating with lucid dreamers in real time. In the summer, an experiment was published in which volunteers from the Elijah project reproduced “alien abductions.” Finally, in November, another study by Michael Raduga, which proved the possibility of detecting LD with a single sensor, was published.
Spain and Italy shared the third and fourth places. Researchers from these countries studied gender differences in dreams, the distribution of dreams on the consciousness scale, narcolepsy –the subject of several papers, and, most importantly, the connection of LD with the coronavirus pandemic.
In fifth and sixth place – also equally – came Brazil and Lithuania. Tadas Stumbrys studied the potential dangers of LD for health and the possibilities of LD as a cure for depression. Brazilian scientists (together with authors from Israel and Sweden) subjected another popular topic –“reality shifting” – to scientific investigation for the first time.
Other countries also contributed to the development of the LD topic with at least one article: UK, Taiwan, Germany, France, Netherlands, Poland, and Austria.
Which 2021 study was most memorable to you?
List of scientific articles on LD in 2021:
1. Raduga M. An effective lucid dreaming method by inducing hypnopompic hallucinations. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11588/ijodr.2021.1.71170
2. Loo M.-R., & Cheng S.-k. Dream Lucidity and the Attentional Network Task. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.586808
3. Konkoly K.R. et al. Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.026
4. Cappadona R. et al. Sleep, dreams, nightmares, and sex-related differences: a narrative review. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26355/eurrev_202104_25559
5. Ferreira G. H., Prata T. d. A., Fontenele-Araujo J., de Carvalho F. T., & Mota-Rolim S. A. I dream therefore I am: A review on lucid dreaming in Western philosophy. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000156
6. Scarpelli S. et al. Dream Activity in Narcoleptic Patients During the COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.681569
7. Szymanek P. I did not expect to be dreaming: Explaining realization in lucid dreams with a Bayesian framework. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2021.103163
8. Raduga M., Shashkov A., & Zhunusova Z. Emulating alien and UFO encounters in REM sleep. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11588/ijodr.2021.2.78599
9. Scarpelli S. et al. The impact of the end of COVID confinement on pandemic dreams, as assessed by a weekly sleep diary: a longitudinal investigation in Italy. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13429
10. Miller K. E., Ross R. J., & Harb G. C. Lucid dreams in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder include nightmares. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000163
11. Alcaraz-Sanchez A. Awareness in the void: a micro-phenomenological exploration of conscious dreamless sleep. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-021-09743-0
12. Zhunusova Z., Raduga M., & Shashkov A. Flying limitations in lucid dreams. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000172
13. Stumbrys T. Dispelling the shadows of the lucid night: An exploration of potential adverse effects of lucid dreaming. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000288
14. Méndez de la Brena D. E., & Schoenmann C. Lucid dreaming as a method for living otherwise. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24197/st.1.2021.125-151
15. Camann W. Pick a Nice Dream. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000005691
16. Raduga M. Optimal sleep duration and its deviation outcomes from perspectives of REM sleep dissociative phenomena. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000179
17. Sackwild L., & Stumbrys T. The healing and transformative potential of lucid dreaming for treating clinical depression. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11588/ijodr.2021.2.81533
18. Somer E., Cardeña E., Catelan R.F. et al. Reality shifting: psychological features of an emergent online daydreaming culture. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02439-3
19. García-Campayo J. Validation of the Spanish Version of the Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams Scale. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.742438
20. Holzinger B., Nierwetberg F., & Klösch G. Case Report: Why Sleep and Dream Related Psychological Treatments, Such as Sleepcoaching (According to Holzinger&Klösch) and CBT-I Should Be Implemented in Treatment Concepts in the Public Health System—Description of the Nightmare Treatment Process in the Context of PTSD. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.733911
21. Raduga M. Detecting lucid dreams only by submentalis electromyography. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.10.030
22. Barngrover S., Zendels P., & Peach H. A moderated mediation model predicting the impact of nightmares on sleep quality. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000186
