Lucid dreaming has the ability to increase awareness and control of the dreamer. Neurological evidence seems to support the seven awareness criteria suggested by Holzinger. During LD, not a single brain structure, but a whole network of brain regions is activated.
Risks of Lucid Dreaming. Although more research is needed, some experts suspect lucid dreaming could come with negative consequences. The most concerning potential dangers of lucid dreaming are disrupted sleep and mental health issues.
The two researchers found that during lucid dreaming, there is increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the bilateral frontopolar prefrontal cortex, the precuneus, the inferior parietal lobules, and the supramarginal gyrus.
Researchers have noted that lucid dreamers are not psychologically better than non-lucid ones. Lucid dreaming can disrupt sleeping patterns and negatively affect mental health. It can make psychosis worse for some individuals and exhibits no benefits for anyone with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Experts say that frequent lucid dreaming may expose you to the diseases like schizophrenia or Paranoia. It is because elevated levels of brain activity during LD blues the borderline between reality and dream for a dreamer.
Later studies showed that lucid dreaming often occurs during moments of particularly high arousal or change in brain wave activity in the outer layer of the brain. Recognition of dreaming may occur specifically in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, where working memory, planning, and abstract reasoning occur.
Generally, lucid dreaming is quite rare. Only one half of the general population know the phenomenon from personal experience, approximately 20% have lucid dreams on a monthly basis, and only a minority of approximately 1% have lucid dreams several times a week.
Another study exploring LD and personality found that lucid dreamers were socially bold, dominant, experimenting, enthusiastic, and warm (Gruber et al., 1995).
When we dream, melatonin and oxytocin are released. Melatonin is released when it's dark to make us sleepy. Oxytocin is the hormone that mediates social bonding in waking life as well as dreams.
The findings suggest that people with frequent lucid dreams may be better at self-reflection and planning than those without experience. Researchers theorized that the likelihood of experiencing lucid dreams is closely associated with better cognitive functions among people with larger anterior prefrontal cortex.
The dream is still a dream, and the hallucination remains a phantasm. However, lucid dreamers are able to distance themselves from the ongoing imagery and may even be successful in attenuating its emotional impact.
Is it true that lucid dreaming may make you smarter? There is no scientific proof that lucid dreaming can boost an individual's IQ. However, scientific data suggests that regular lucid dreaming improves brain connectivity in areas related to problem solving, insight, heightened creativity, and better decision-making.
The graph illustrates that power in lucid dreaming is REM-like in lower frequencies and rises above REM sleep at higher frequencies, commencing at around 28 Hz and peaking at 40 Hz.
However, lucid dreaming can inhibit relaxing and restful sleep, and the more involved you are in directing your dreams, the less benefit you'll get from the hours you spend in bed.
Most experts believe that lucid dreams are the rarest type of dreams. While dreaming, you are conscious that you are dreaming but you keep on dreaming. According to researchers, 55 percent of people experience these types of dreams at least one time in their life.
Surveys show that roughly 55% of adults have experienced at least one lucid dream during their lifetime, and 23% of people experience lucid dreams at least once per month. Some research has pointed to potential benefits of lucid dreaming, such as treatment for nightmares.
However, the actual level of control available in lucid dreams varies widely: Sometimes it is difficult even to control one's body or to maintain lucidity, whereas other times individuals can actually make people or places appear in their dreams on command.
Dreams can help us regulate our emotions and process negative ones, and because depressed people often struggle with both, dreaming more frequently may be a way to deal with these negative emotions.
Dreams feel real because we use the same brain to process them! Parts of the brain that process “real” sensory information in wakefulness are active in REM sleep. The more rational parts of our brain only switch on in wakefulness. This is why dreams play out like any “real” experience!
There Are Many Reasons Lucid Dreaming is Difficult
One of the biggest reasons is that we're working with subtle levels of consciousness in the dream world, dimensions of mind that are really “quiet.” Yet we spend most of our lives in a very noisy world, swept away in “loud” levels of mind.
In a lucid nightmare, the dreamer is aware that he is dreaming and that the dream is a nightmare. The nightmare themes often involve demonic figures out to inflict terrible harm on the dreamer who struggles to wake up but can't.