Lucid Dreaming and the Feeling of Being Refreshed in the Morning: A Diary Study.

Lucid dreaming does not impair the feeling of being refreshed in the morning. In a five-week dream diary study with 149 participants, nights with a lucid dream were followed by a higher feeling of being refreshed compared to nights with a non-lucid dream. Earlier cross-sectional studies had linked frequent lucid dreaming to poorer sleep quality, but that relationship was explained by nightmare frequency, not lucid dreaming itself. The findings indicate no negative effect of lucid dreaming on sleep's restorative function, though future research should use both objective and subjective measures of daytime tiredness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

REM periods with lucid dreaming show increased brain activation, especially in the prefrontal cortex, compared to REM periods without lucid dreaming and, thus, the question of whether lucid dreaming interferes with the recovery function of sleep arises. Cross-sectional studies found a negative relationship between sleep quality and lucid dreaming frequency, but this relationship was explained by nightmare frequency. The present study included 149 participants keeping a dream diary for five weeks though the course of a lucid dream induction study. The results clearly indicate that there is no negative effect of having a lucid dream on the feeling of being refreshed in the morning compared to nights with the recall of a non-lucid dream; on the contrary, the feeling of being refreshed was higher after a night with a lucid dream. Future studies should be carried out to elicit tiredness and sleepiness during the day using objective and subjective measurement methods.