Lucid Dreaming… how does it work?

Written by Eva Reet Singh

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7513922/

Lucid dreaming is what occurs when a person becomes hyper aware when they're dreaming, and has control over their dreams and gains partial or full control over the dream’s events. This is an enthralling blending of consciousness and the dream state. While in this state, the brain shows features of both awareness and deep sleep. This allows the dreamer to recognize and even influence the dream they are having. Researchers have found that this unique semi-consciousness tells us a number of things about how self-awareness and perception exist even beyond your ordinary waking life.

Research shows that while lucid dreaming, certain parts of the brain linked to self-reflection and decision making become increasingly more active than they would be in an ordinary dream. This means that while the body remains in rapid eye movement, better known as REM sleep, the mind gains a level of intelligibility similar to how it would function while you're awake. Scientists believe that this partial reactivation of the mind shows us the brain's awareness centres and how they function. This explains how people who regularly lucid dream can think critically, make choices, and even control aspects of their dream world. These findings suggest that consciousness is not an all-or-nothing state but something that can exist in varying degrees, even when we sleep.

The research in this article also explores how lucid dreaming can be studied in a laboratory setting. Since it's difficult to detect when someone becomes aware, or gains consciousness within a dream, scientists use specific eye movement signals, or specific brain activity patterns, to confirm lucidity.

Out of six participants, three of them were able to experience lucid dreams once during the study. All six participants were very sensitive to light and sound, which made it difficult to use devices designed to trigger lucid dreams. These devices, which use flashes of light or sound signals, only caused the participants to wake up instead of becoming lucid. The three lucid dreams that were recorded happened naturally through self-suggestion, not through the use of any equipment. Two participants also wore earplugs to reduce distractions.

To confirm when someone became lucid, participants were trained to make a special eye movement signal. Instead of using the usual left-right-left movement (which sometimes gave false results), they used a clearer pattern, two or more sets of horizontal eye movements with short pauses in between. They repeated this pattern several times during their lucid dream. The researchers found that these deliberate eye movements were much stronger and more regular than the random, smaller eye movements that usually happen during REM sleep.

This image compares eye and muscle activity during three states: wakefulness (WEC), lucid dreaming, and regular REM sleep. The red and blue lines (EOG) show that eye movements are strong and deliberate when awake or lucid, but small and random during REM sleep. The green line (EMG) shows that muscle activity stays low in both lucid and REM sleep, meaning the body remains relaxed even when the dreamer is aware. [National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) – Lucid Dreaming: A State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-lucid Dreaming (PMC2737577).]

Beyond its scientific value, lucid dreaming has become a subject of interest because of its potential applications. Some researchers believe it could help people overcome nightmares, explore creativity, or even practice real-life skills in a safe, dreamlike environment. By training the mind to recognise dream signs and constantly be in a state of awareness, individuals might gain more control over their experiences and emotions while asleep. This possibility touches both science and self-exploration, turning sleep into a space for discovery rather than unconscious rest. This can be used as a rehabilitation, aiding challenges like PTSD and anxiety.

This research is important because it's the line between being awake and asleep, showing that our minds can exist in states that blend both. Lucid dreaming demonstrates how awareness and imagination can overlap, offering a rare window into how consciousness works. By studying this state, scientists can better understand how the brain creates our sense of self, and how that awareness can shift, even in the deepest parts of sleep.