Am I Dreaming Right Now?
Photo from Pexels by Luis Quintero
Sage Osesek
Dreams—the great complexities of life. Six hours of our lives are spent dreaming, yet scientists argue about its purpose. Do dreams function to keep our brains fit? Do they help predict future events? Do they regulate emotion? Dreams puzzle us all, but if we don’t understand them, we do what humans do best: we control them. Specifically, we control them through lucid dreaming.
Lucid dreaming occurs during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep when the brain is most active. A lucid dreamer experiences a unique hybrid state of sleep; they recognize that they are dreaming. This state is fairly uncommon, as about 55% of adults reported having experienced only one or more lucid dreams in their lifetime. 23% of adults reported experiencing a lucid dream in the past month, showing its irregular nature. But lucid dreaming isn’t a spontaneous state. Lucid dreaming is based on your anterior prefrontal cortex. Studies comparing frequent lucid dreamers to non-frequent lucid dreamers show that lucid dreamers have significantly higher functional connectivity between the anterior prefrontal cortex and the bilateral angular gyrus, bilateral middle temporal gyrus, and right inferior frontal gyrus in the brain. So, interestingly enough, the simple ability to frequently lucid dream exposes the very nature of our brain connectivity.
By recognizing a sleep state, lucid dreaming can lead dreamers to control their dreams. Dreamers manipulate where they are, who they’re with, and the laws of science. They can create a new world inside their head while they lay asleep. They can write a story or play a video game, experiencing it first-hand. Controlling lucid dreams is an art that many spend years mastering. Reality testing—though it seems rather existential—is remarkably helpful to lucid dreamers. If the ability to manipulate your dreams appeals to you, increase reality checks. A common reality check is to push your finger against your opposite palm. If you are dreaming, your finger will pass through. Pinch your nose throughout the day; while dreaming, you're able to breathe. Look in the mirrors; in dreams, your reflection is distorted. If you do this while awake, your dream self is more inclined to mimic these actions. Thus, while dreaming, you’ll realize you are dreaming when the reality checks fail.
Becoming aware of your dream state is one step. The ability to hold onto that awareness is three staircases above that. Lucid dreamers either wake up minutes after their epiphany or forget they are dreaming. During your lucid dream, repeat “this is a dream” over and over to keep your brain aware. This takes months to master, further showing its complex nature.
Lucid dreaming is a fascinating time. You can experience your dream with a new lens. You can observe your dreams—the people and the places. What do they mean? What does this tell me about my brain? You can manipulate your dreams for fun and explore your brain’s remarkable ability to create worlds.
