The role of dream sensations in Lucid dreams.

Abstract

Lucid dreams (LDs) are dreams in which the dreamer can remain conscious and control the dream plot. Although most people are familiar with this phenomenon, its nature remains unclear in many aspects. This pilot study aims to investigate the role of dream sensations (DSs) in the etiology of LDs. We hypothesize that avoidance of DSs reduces LD duration and leads to the quick termination of LDs. The results of the current study will improve the current understanding of rapid eye movement sleep's neurobiology. To check the hypothesis through an online resource, we instructed 100 volunteers to deliberately avoid any DSs during an LD and estimate how much time has passed in an LD by means of counting seconds. A control group (n = 155) was asked to "follow the flow," experience all arising DSs, and estimate how much time passed in the same manner as the experimental group. For most of the participants in the experimental group, deliberate avoidance of DSs resulted either in awakening (40% of cases) or falling asleep with a loss of consciousness (12%). Both unpaired and paired t-tests applied to participants of either one or both experiments demonstrated a significant decrease ( p , .05) in the duration of the LD experience in the experimental group. The results of the current study suggest that DSs play an important role in the etiology of LDs and contribute to prolonging LDs, though other factors are apparently involved, which should be addressed in further studies.