Summary: Lucid dreaming, where people become aware they are dreaming, has much fascinated both professionals and dreamers. A new study with the largest database of its kind has identified different brain exercise habits that separate lucid thinking from both REM sleep and wakefulness.
The study reveals distinct shifts in view, memory, and self-awareness that occur during this unusual informed state within sleep. These results challenge the traditional barrier between wakefulness and rest, suggesting consciousness may come completely from within the vision state.
Important Facts:
- Unique Head Exercise: Lucid dreaming displays neural patterns different from REM sleep and wakefulness.
- Self-Awareness in Sleep: Head parts linked to cognitive power and self-perception are more effective.
- Consciousness Redefined: The research supports the idea that consciousness may occur during slumber without waking.
Origin: SfN
Lucid dreaming is a strange phenomenon in which individuals are actively aware that they are in a vision. Çağatay Demirel, from Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Medical Center, and associates shed light on the neurological correlates of lucid dreaming in their Journal of Neuroscience report.
The researchers used a comprehensive control network as they collected and assembled data from multiple labs to make what is, according to the authors, the largest example size to date for this field of research.
Evaluations of brain activity during clear dreaming, quick eye movement sleep, and wakefulness revealed specific exercise patterns for clear thinking.
These unique patterns reflect shifts in brain region detection and how mental regions talk that may be linked to changes in perception, memory processing, self-awareness, and cognitive control.
According to Demirel, “This research opens the door to a deeper understanding of lucid dreaming as an intricate state of consciousness by pointing to the possibility that conscious experience can arise from within sleep itself.
“This work offers a perspective that could challenge the traditional binary view of sleep and wakefulness in future research. ”
About this lucid dreaming and consciousness research news
Author: SfN Media
Source: SfN
Contact: SfN Media – SfN
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Original Research: Closed access.
“Electrophysiological Correlates of Lucid Dreaming: Sensor and Source Level Signatures” by Çağatay Demirel et al. Journal of Neuroscience
Abstract
Electrophysiological Correlates of Lucid Dreaming: Sensor and Source Level Signatures
Lucid dreaming ( LD ) is a state of conscious awareness of the ongoing oneiric state, predominantly linked to REM sleep.
Progress in understanding its neurobiological basis has been hindered by small sample sizes, diverse EEG setups, and artifacts like saccadic eye movements.
To address these challenges in the characterization of the electrophysiological correlates of LD, we introduced an adaptive multi-stage preprocessing pipeline, applied to human data ( male and female ) pooled across laboratories, allowing us to explore sensor- and source-level markers of LD.
We observed that, while sensor-level differences between LD and non-lucid REM sleep were minimal, mixed-frequency analysis revealed broad low-alpha to gamma power reductions during LD compared to wakefulness.
Source-level analyses showed significant beta power ( 12-30 Hz ) reductions in right central and parietal areas, including the temporo-parietal junction, during LD.
Moreover, functional connectivity in the alpha band (8-12 Hz ) increased during LD compared to non-lucid REM sleep. During initial LD eye signaling compared to baseline, source-level gamma1 power ( 30-36 Hz ) increased in right temporo-occipital regions, including the right precuneus.
Finally, functional connectivity analysis revealed increased inter-hemispheric and inter-regional gamma1 connectivity during LD, reflecting widespread network engagement.
These results suggest that distinct source-level power and connectivity patterns characterize the dynamic neural processes underlying LD, including shifts in network communication and regional activation that may underlie the specific changes in perception, memory processing, self-awareness, and cognitive control.
Taken together, these findings illuminate the electrophysiological correlates of LD, laying the groundwork for decoding the mechanisms of this intriguing state of consciousness.
