Virtual reality training of lucid dreaming.
Jarrod Gott, Leonore Bovy, Emma Peters, Sofia Tzioridou, Stefano Meo, Çağatay Demirel, Mahdad Jafarzadeh Esfahani, Pedro Reis Oliveira, Thomas Houweling, Alessandro Orticoni, Anke Rademaker, Diede Booltink, Rathiga Varatheeswaran, Carmen Van Hooijdonk, Mahmoud Chaabou, Anastasia Mangiaruga, Erik Van den Berge, Frederik D Weber, Simone Ritter, Martin Dresler
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences February 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0697 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractLucid dreaming—being aware that one is dreaming while still asleep—is rare but can be trained by regularly questioning whether current experience is real or a dream. Virtual reality (VR) scenarios containing dream-like elements enhanced this training. Over four weeks, volunteers who received VR-assisted lucid dreaming training showed significantly greater increases in lucid dreaming than those who received no training. Eye-signal-verified lucid dreams during polysomnography supported these behavioral results. Potential mechanisms include synthetic dream-like experiences, incorporation of VR content into dream imagery as memory cues, and dissociative effects of VR that may amplify lucid dreaming training during wakefulness.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Volunteers |
| Intervention | classical lucid dreaming training |
| Duration | Four weeks |
| Topics | Lucid dreaming |
| Keywords | Rem sleep Consciousness Dissociation Metacognition |
| Citations | 33 |
| Key finding | VR-assisted lucid dreaming training led to significantly stronger increases in lucid dreaming compared to no training, with eye-signal-verified lucid dreams during polysomnography supporting the behavioral results. |
Abstract
Metacognitive reflections on one's current state of mind are largely absent during dreaming. Lucid dreaming as the exception to this rule is a rare phenomenon; however, its occurrence can be facilitated through cognitive training. A central idea of respective training strategies is to regularly question one's phenomenal experience: is the currently experienced world real, or just a dream? Here, we tested if such lucid dreaming training can be enhanced with dream-like virtual reality (VR): over the course of four weeks, volunteers underwent lucid dreaming training in VR scenarios comprising dream-like elements, classical lucid dreaming training or no training. We found that VR-assisted training led to significantly stronger increases in lucid dreaming compared to the no-training condition. Eye signal-verified lucid dreams during polysomnography supported behavioural results. We discuss the potential mechanisms underlying these findings, in particular the role of synthetic dream-like experiences, incorporation of VR content in dream imagery serving as memory cues, and extended dissociative effects of VR session on subsequent experiences that might amplify lucid dreaming training during wakefulness. This article is part of the theme issue 'Offline perception: voluntary and spontaneous perceptual experiences without matching external stimulation'.