Is there a relation among REM sleep dissociated phenomena, like lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences, and false awakening?

During REM sleep, people normally dream, but some also experience lucid dreaming (being conscious during a dream), false awakening (dreaming that one has woken up), sleep paralysis (temporary muscle atonia upon waking or falling asleep), and out-of-body experiences (the sensation of leaving the physical body). A survey of 974 people on the streets of Moscow found that 88% had experienced at least one of these phenomena, and 43% experienced one often. These phenomena were closely correlated with each other, and their recurrence correlated with sleep duration and dream recall frequency. The results suggest these REM sleep dissociative phenomena are interconnected.

Study at a glance

Abstract

During REM sleep we normally experience dreams. However, there are other less common REM sleep phenomena, like lucid dreaming (LD), false awakening (FA), sleep paralysis (SP), and out of body experiences (OBE). LD occurs when one is conscious during dreaming, and FA occurs when one is dreaming but believes that has woken up. SP is characterized by skeletal muscle atonia and occurs mainly during awakening or falling asleep. OBE is the subjective sensation of 'leaving the physical body'. Since all these phenomena happen during REM sleep, their frequency is probably connected. The goal of this research is to explore how these phenomena are connected to each other in terms of frequency. We surveyed 974 people on the streets of Moscow and found significant correlations between the phenomena. Of those surveyed, 88% have experienced at least one of the phenomena of interest (i.e., LD, OBE, FA, and SP), which appeared to be closely correlated to each other. Furthermore, 43% of respondents stated that they often experience at least one of these phenomena. We found that the recurrence of these phenomena correlated with sleep duration and dream recall frequency. The results of the survey provide better understanding of the nature of REM sleep dissociative phenomena. Cross-correlations between REM sleep dissociated phenomena, like lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences, and false awakening, revealed by a survey.