FLICKR, DANIEL LOBOMost dreams occur during the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep phase. During REM, a sleeper is generally not aware she’s dreaming and experiences her dream as reality. This is thought to occur when certain parts of the prefrontal cortex—linked to awareness and higher cognitive function—are inactive. Some people also experience lucid dreams; they are aware that they are dreaming and may be able to modify their dreams’ outcomes. Unlike during REM sleep, parts of the prefrontal cortex have been previously shown to be active during the more self-aware lucid dreaming state.
Psychologist Ursula Voss at Germany’s Goethe University Frankfurt and her colleagues have now linked neuronal activity in the frontal and temporal brain lobes with lucid dreaming. In a study published today (May 11) in Nature Neuroscience, they report having been able to induce lucid dreams by applying low-current stimulation to the scalps of volunteers who were sleeping.
“This is an exciting study that demonstrates causality,” said Ryota Kanai, cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Sussex in the U.K., who was not involved in the study. “When a certain frequency of electric current is applied to the brain, this study shows that lucid dreaming can be induced.”
The researchers applied mild current at different frequencies to frontal and temporal brain positions across the scalps of 27 ...
