A new brainwave data study has found evidence that the phenomenon of lucid dreaming, a state where a dreaming individual realizes that they are indeed dreaming, may represent a distinct state of consciousness, displaying measurable patterns that are a hybrid of normal consciousness and ordinary dreaming.

Due to the unique state of an individual simultaneously being both asleep and consciously aware of what is transpiring, the phenomenon of lucid dreaming has long presented a unique opportunity for researchers to study human consciousness; however, the process of inducing the state under laboratory conditions has proven to be unreliable, resulting in small sample sizes, and electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors are sensitive to the eye movements characteristic of REM sleep, when an individual’s dreams are typically most vivid.

To address this, a research team at the Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging at the Netherlands’ Radboud University Medical Center, developed new filtering techniques that removed random noise and artifacts from the collected data, along with measures that omitted extraneous signals generated by the subjects’ muscle and eye movements. The resulting signals were then examined from both the signal level—the readings made directly from the EEG scalp-mounted sensors—and the source level, where the output from individual regions of the brain were evaluated.

Although the sensor-level readings displayed little difference between lucid and ordinary dreaming, the source level analysis revealed a number of key differences: at the onset of a lucid dreaming state, the subjects’ right temporo-occipital regions, associated with the processing of visual and auditory information, resonated with 3-36 Hz alpha brainwave patterns, signaling a state of relaxed wakefulness.

During the lucid dreaming episode itself, the right side of their parietal lobes, responsible for combining various sensory inputs into a picture of one’s place in their surrounding environment, would display 12-30 Hz beta patterns, indicative of an active state displaying alert thinking and cognitive processing.

These findings reinforce the notion that lucid dreaming is a state of consciousness distinct from ordinary dreaming or full waking consciousness, and displays its own unique brainwave patterns that imply that instead of simply having a vivid dream that is under their control, the lucid dreamer appears to be conscious while experiencing the dream.

According to the study text, “this research opens the door to a deeper understanding of lucid dreaming as an intricate state of consciousness by pointing to the possibility that conscious experience can arise from within sleep itself.”

Lucid dreaming could also be developed as a therapeutic tool: for instance, individuals with PTSD or recurring nightmares could be trained to induce lucid dreaming in order to safely interact with and rewrite their traumatic dream experiences as a method of healing.

“Lucid dreaming offers a unique avenue for voluntarily interacting with and immersively adjusting internal world models whose dysfunction is often at the root of various mental disorders,” remarked study lead Dr. Çağatay Demirel, a PhD student at Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour.

Their research “may also facilitate the development of neurofeedback and brain-computer interface technologies aimed at inducing lucid dreaming towards unlocking its full clinical potential.”