Lucid Dreaming Loren Baxter Will Barley Paul Albicker Sydney Thomas

Brief Overview Introduction to Lucid Dreaming (Loren) Physiological Correlates (Will) Clinical Applications of LD (Paul) Cognitive Implications (Sydney) Q & A

What is a Lucid Dream? A state where the subject is conscious that they are dreaming. The dreamer can have different levels of consciousness: They can simply understand the fact that they are dreaming, or They can choose how to act and even exhibit conscious control over the dream environment

Lucid Dreaming in the Past LD was too difficult to study because lucid dreams are normally rare Only about 20% of the population reports having one or more LD’s per month Studying them would require keeping subjects in a lab for months at a time

Stephen LaBerge Proved in 1980 self-study that Lucid Dreaming is a Learnable skill Motivation and practice Developed MILD method (Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dream) Extended study to a group of 5 subjects in 1981

How to MILD (Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dream) Become conscious during REM WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dream) Fall asleep but maintain consciousness Aides Reality Checks Retail Products

MILD Consciousness occurs during REM sleep Steps: 1) Set alarm to wake a few hours early 2) Immediately rehearse dream 3) 15 minutes of wakeful activity 4) Mantras and visualization: “I will realize I’m dreaming” 5) Repeat step 4 until asleep

WILD Occurs during hypnogogic state Steps: 1) Relaxation 2) Fall asleep, maintain consciousness Count: “1, I’m dreaming, 2, I’m dreaming…” Pay attention to and count breaths Imagine self descending stairs, count steps

Aides Reality Checks Habitually check whether you are dreaming Commercial Products Eyewear detects REM sleep, shines dim light into eyes Computer software produces sounds during the night Things to do during MILD (Games, etc.)

Methods for Studying LDs How do the researchers know when you are in a lucid dream? Trained to clench hands/ move eyes while in a lucid dream Accurate measure in 90% of reported lucid dreams studied.

A Distinct Altered State? How is an LD different from daydreaming? “Lucid dreamers are conscious of the absence of the sensory input from the external world…” -Laberge

Physiological Correlates Typically occur in phasic (active) REM sleep. Usually occur in the later sleep cycles Characterized by greater arousal than NLD sleep

Physiological Correlates

Conscious Control? Many interesting willful actions may be preformed while in a LD Control of respiration Clenching of fists results in detectable movement of arm muscles Sense of time remains intact

Therapeutic Values LD can help treat recurring nightmares 5 case studies using LD One year follow up 4 no longer had nightmares, 1 had experienced a decrease in intensity and frequency Becoming lucid, individual may directly alter the content of the nightmare

Recurring Nightmares LD allows one to realize that the experience is a dream Interactions with dream imagery can be altered, reducing uncontrollability Also reduce perceived importance

Insight Subjects interact with dream in a creative fashion LD lead to important insight Family, loved ones Overcome or better adapt to its handicaps

Traditional Theories-Freud Dreaming and waking cognition are discontinuous Dreaming Cognition Bizarre, “magical-thinking” Waking Cognition High degree of rationality, order and clarity

Discontinuity Theories Reflective awareness A conscious awareness of an ongoing internal or external event “the mind not only knows the things that appear before it; it knows that it knows them”-William James Hallmark of waking mind, lose capacity during sleep Hobson Abstract self-reference and a self-critical perspective are lost during dreaming.

Kahan & LaBerge (1994) Phenomenon of lucid dreaming casts doubt on the common view that cognition during dreaming is inherently deficient Study by Kahan, LaBerge, Levitan and Zimbardo (1997) Conducted study to assess the cognitive, metacognitive and emotional qualities of recent waking and dreaming experiences.

Study (1997)-Kahan, LaBerge, Levitan and Zimbardo Group 1=38 practiced dreamers Group 2=50 “novice dreamers” Methods Record experiences from prior dreaming or waking episode Fill out parallel questionnaires for a dreaming and a waking experience

Methods Dreaming state Report most clearly recalled dream Answer questions assessing… Choice, internal commentary, sudden/sustained attention, public self-consciousness related/unrelated to target event, private self- consciousness (self-reflection), emotion and unusual experience Waking state Report experiences from a prior 15-min period Answer same questionnaire

Results-Comparisons Waking episodes Higher frequency of choice and self-reflection Dreaming episodes Public self consciousness, emotion No Diff=internal commentary No systematic differences between practiced and novice dreamers were observed. W/exception of questions of attention

Concerns Cognition of waking episodes might be correlated to characteristics of retrospective evaluations of waking cognition Public-self consciousness suggests there is a self-critical perspective in dreaming…but might be due to solitary conditions of reporting waking experiences Measurements are indirect Narrative reports Individuals’ recollections made in waking state

However… Study not restricted to individuals practiced in dream recall or self-observation Few differences between groups None of the measured features was absent or infrequent in reports of either experience Recollections of dreaming and waking experiences were similar for some cognitive features and different for others

Implications Episodic recollections of waking/dreaming experiences more similar than different Differences are more quantitative than qualitative Did not reveal global deficiencies between experiences All measured dimensions present in both experiences

Conclusion Lucid Dreaming is a distinct altered state of consciousness Studies with LD offer insight into the world of dreams, a long discussed topic of psychology and cogsci The differences between the sleeping and waking levels of consciousness are not as disparate as previously believed

Questions What do you think about the methods used to study LD? Is LD an epiphenomenon of REM During LD's, is cognition deficient or adapted to the context of an abstract environment? What does this suggest about sleep/dreaming and consciousness?

References Blagrove, M, and S.J. Hartnell. "Lucid Dreaming: Associations With Internal Locus of Control, Need for Cognition and Creativity." Personality and Individual Differences 28 (2000): Green, C.E.. Lucid Dreams. Oxford: Institute of Psychophysical Research, Kahan, Tracey L., et al. "Similarities and Differences between Dreaming and Waking Cognition: An Exploratory Study." Consciousness and Cognition 6 (1997): LaBerge, Stephen P. "Lucid Dreaming: Psychophysiological Studies of Consciousness during REM Sleep." Sleep and Cognition (1990): LaBerge, Stephen P. "Lucid Dreaming as a Learnable Skill: A Case Study." Perceptual and Motor Skills 51 (1980): Zadra, Antonio L; Pihl, Robert O.“Lucid dreaming as a treatment for recurrent nightmares.” Psychotherapy & Psychosomatics. Vol 66(1), Jan-Feb 1997, pp