Michael Schredl is a German researcher, scientific manager of the sleep laboratory at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim. He is the editor of the International Journal of Dream Research and a consulting editor for Dreaming. Both scientific journals publish articles on the topic of dreams, including lucid dreams (LD). Schredl is also a member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and its regional representative in Germany.
Interestingly, Schredl’s first specialty was electrical engineering. While studying the subject, Schredl became interested in psychology. As the researcher said in an interview published on the website of the Heidelberg University, he began to study the subject of dreams with a book by Erich Fromm because he could not remember his dreams. Then he bought a second book with practical tips for improving dream memory and has been keeping a dream journal ever since.
Michael Schredl is the author of more than 500 articles, including the largest number of publications on the topic of LD in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Over the past year, studies with his participation have addressed the question of the level of lucidity in dreams, since this can vary, with some dreams classified as “semi-lucid.” The researcher also dealt with lucid nightmares (in which the sleeper realizes that they are dreaming, but cannot change the plot of the dream or wake up) and studied the peculiarities of the influence of culture on the frequency of LD, namely American culture.
Another study was devoted to the WBTB (wake-up-back-to-bed) technique. The essence of the method consists of: setting an alarm clock a couple of hours earlier than usual; upon waking up, staying awake for 15–60 minutes; then going back to bed with the intention of falling asleep and becoming aware. The experiment showed that half of the participants (all of them new to LD practice) experienced at least one lucid dream within five weeks. The goal of future research is to learn whether anyone and everyone can induce LD if they make an effort.
