Researchers have succeeded in inducing a state of lucid dreaming in sleepers. They sent an electric current through the dreamers’ brains, which allowed them to control their dreams.
Getting naked in public, falling endlessly, common nightmares that you can’t control. German researchers have developed a technique of transcranial electrical stimulation that would allow sleepers to control their dream. The results appeared on April 11 in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Short periods of lucid dreaming
A team from Goethe University in Frankfurt (Germany) studied the evolution of gamma waves during sleep. These brain waves are very present during higher executive functions, such as consciousness or thinking. But during sleep, they are almost absent. Yet researchers have observed gamma waves in “lucid dreamers,” people who know they are dreaming and can control the scenario of that dream.
Can we induce a state of lucid dreaming? This is what the team of Ursula Voss tried with 27 volunteers. All were fitted with electrodes before falling asleep. Two minutes after the onset of REM sleep – during which one dreams – participants received an electric current for 30 seconds. The frequency used, between 25 and 40 hertz, corresponds to that of the gamma waves produced by the brain. The experiment was repeated for 4 nights. Immediately after the end of the stimulation, the dreamers were awakened.
Treat post-traumatic stress
All of the volunteers said they had experienced lucid dreaming. For short moments, they were aware that they were dreaming, and were able to control the unfolding of the dream. For example, they put on clothes before going out. They also had the feeling that their dreamed “I” was a third party, which they were content to observe. The electroencephalograms also reflect this state of lucid dreaming: gamma waves manifested themselves well during these short periods.
However, there is no question of making transcranial stimulation a commercial tool. On the other hand, researchers imagine it well in the treatment of trauma and post-traumatic stress, even in certain forms of schizophrenia. All of these mental disorders are characterized by the same symptom: recurring nightmares that the dreamer cannot control.
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