Leading lucid dreaming researchers from Canada (Mallett, Nielsen) and the US (Konkoly, Carr, Paller) analyzed the main trends in the field. The authors have repeatedly published the results of groundbreaking experiments, but here, they have summarized the main achievements and problems that remain.
Lucid dreaming offers unprecedented possibilities. For example, one can conduct a psychotherapy session in a safe environment or communicate with a sleeping person in real-time. The main task is to find the best technique that guarantees lucidity. Without such a technique, it is extremely difficult to find research subjects, resulting in small sample sizes comprising people from a narrow circle of experienced lucid dreamers.
Researchers positively evaluate the method of external stimuli. The authors describe an interesting experiment on treating nightmares: while awake, people mentally rewrote the plot of their nightmare so that it was pleasant, and the organizers provided a sound signal at that moment. Then, during sleep, this signal was delivered again, and the percentage of pleasant dreams increased sharply. The authors used a similar method of sensory stimulation (using sound or light signals) to activate awareness.
Have you used external stimuli (sounds, light, or smells) to influence the plot of a dream or induce lucidity?
The article was published in November 2024 in Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
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