A team of researchers successfully tested a promising technique for inducing lucid dreams during sleep using a simple smartphone application.
- Researchers have demonstrated that a mobile app can induce lucid dreams using the Targeted Lucidity Reactivation (TLR) method, which combines training before bed and auditory cues during sleep.
- Study participants achieved an average of 2 lucid dreams per week, compared to the usual less than 1. Note that this type of dream is associated with reduced stress and better mood the next day.
- To perfect the method, researchers are collaborating with InteraXon to use sleep sensors to improve the effectiveness of inducing lucid dreams, particularly during REM sleep phases.
Lucid dreaming refers to the ability to be aware, during a dream, that one is dreaming. It intrigues more and more people who are looking to optimize their sleep to improve their well-being. However, neuroscientists from Northwestern University in the United States have just demonstrated that a specific method, called “Targeted Lucidity Reactivation” (TLR), could effectively induce lucid dreams at home via a simple mobile application. The results were published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.
A scientific method that unlocks lucid dreams
The TLR method combines pre-bedtime training (e.g. instructions) with discrete sound cues during sleep. When clinically testing this approach, researchers saw a notable increase in the number of lucid dreams: the 19 study participants went from 0.74 lucid dreams per week to 2.11 on average while using the app. “This is a dramatic increase, because even one lucid dream per week is already exceptional for most lucid dreamers”underlines psychologist Karen Konkoly, who participated in the work, in a press release.
As proof of the reliability of the study, the team of scientists used a control group to which either a different auditory signal or no signal was transmitted. The results confirmed that TLR indeed triggers lucid dreams, independent of the placebo effect or sleep disturbances. By examining the volunteers’ dream diaries, they were able to observe their awareness of sound in dream scenarios – such as one seeing himself at work, looking for the source of a noise, until to realize that he was dreaming.
Less stress felt after a lucid dream
According to research on the subject, the positive effects of lucid dreaming are felt beyond sleep: people who have had a lucid dream often report feeling better morale and less stress the next day. “Manipulating sleep to influence dreams could cultivate skills, solve problems and promote personal development”researchers abound.
The LRT nevertheless poses some challenges. The application, although practical, presents the risk of waking the user and lacks precision in capturing the phases of paradoxical sleep (REM), a period conducive to lucid dreams. Faced with these limitations, researchers are collaborating with InteraXon, creators of the Muse-S brain detection headband, a device that detects sleep phases more precisely. Which could, ultimately, make lucid dreaming accessible to ordinary people and effective in improving mental and emotional health.
