Scientists Induce Lucid Dreams With Brain Zaps!

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Well, sooner or later this was bound to happen and it may lead to a whole new array of highly effective, non-autonomous ways to reach the lucid dream state using new technological gadgetry. (Cosmic Iron, allow us to steal your acronym for what may become ubiquitous in the very near future: Scientifically Induced Lucid Dreaming.) :mrgreen:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25543-reallife-inception-zap-your-brain-to-control-dreams.html#.U3QB1IFdX0c http://www.livescience.com/45520-brain-zaps-trigger-lucid-dreams.html

My friend and I are trying to construct a working prototype to market to lucid dreamers everywhere. We'll have a kickstarter up soon.

Will it be one that requires no supervision when used?

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Search for Dr Technical. He invented one of these over a year ago and it maybe even was his that was used in this experiment at the University of Heidelburg, as he's had contact with at least two people from that university. Dr T is not his real name, but he posts on a bunch of LD forums under that handle. I think it's actually closer to two years that he's had that invention.

Thanks for the input, Snaggle. We need a product like Dr Technical's (if indeed it was his that was used in the experiments) that doesn't require supervision for safety. Something of the same nature but for individual use, with safety measures such as appropriate electric currents and a time limit so that the lucid dreamer is not in any danger. I suppose it would also fall on people to use the product responsibly.

You guys have any suggestions?

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I've just read an excerpt from a commentary on "The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up" (authored by J. Allan Hobson) which is found in the International Journal of Dream Research, and it seems to me that, in correlating neurophysiology and lucid dreaming, it is imperative that we collect honest dream reports from subjects and match them against brain images.

We may not be qualified scientists here, but, ostensibly, we are important to researchers as lucid dreamers, and, for this reason, we should be as diligently as possible in our accounts. Science currently views us lucid dreamers as a key of great potential in unravelling the mystery of consciousness. The lucid dream state, after all, provides oneirologists and neuroscientists alike with a valuable point of reference distinguishable from ordinary dreaming and wakefulness.

Rigorous testing was required, involving real and placebo stimulations of the brain, in order to verify or discredit Hobson's 2009 hypothesis that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex plays an important role in lucid dreaming. We can observe that during ordinary dreaming, the individual is mentally deficient: memory is severely impaired; rationalisation is difficult; disorientation and inattention are prevalent; and self-consciousness is next to nil. But increase the gamma waves in the frontal regions of our cerebrum during REM and voila: a hybrid phase state, responsible for conscious dreaming, is generated.

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is unusually active when we lucid dream, and, unsurprisingly, it appears to play a role in waking consciousness, too. Furthermore, Dresler's fMRI work also implicates the temporal and occipital cortices in lucid dreaming. As lucid dreamers, we can observe what is described in the following quotation:

"In contrast, lucid dreams are often held to differ from nonlucid dreams not just because the dreamer realises that she is currently dreaming, but also because of the high, wake-like level of cognitive and mnemonic functioning."

[as Voss et al's study showed]

It has also been pointed out, notwithstanding, that speech and thought are more prevalent in nonlucid dreams than previously presumed; and that outlandish, mercurial reasoning can occur in lucid dreams. (In fact, the knowledge that one is dreaming can be vague or lacking conviction.) But it is true that first-person perspective is highly unstable in ordinary dreams. It doesn't take a scientist to realise that such dreams are weakly integrated with autobiography and narrative in relation to the processing of the self. (This, of course, does not include false awakenings, for, clearly, such experiences are closely tied to the model of waking reality.)

But the "Dissociable Elements of Lucid and Prelucid Dreams" table, and the commentary that follows in the Journal, also denote that lucidity is not as clear-cut as we are often led to believe. The metacognition can vary. So the following is suggested:

"It may be better to describe cognitive activity in dreams along a continuum, with stereotyped views of lucid and nonlucid dreaming occupying the extreme ends of the spectrum."

[Example: nonlucid>prelucid>fully lucid>lucid control dream]

And the whole spectrum should be examined and matched against brain activity so that important observations, such as Massimini's (with his study using transcranial magnetic stimulation), can be made: It seems that effective connectivity between batches of neurons breaks down during NREM sleep - unlike REM. (No wonder lucid dreaming tends to dwell in the REM phase, and why this one tends to offer the most vivid of dreams.) Other electrophysiological tools have enabled us to make other observations: transcranial direct current stimulation; and galvanic vestibular stimulation. (I'm running out of time but I'll mention more about these when I come back.)

For more, check out: http://www.philosophie.uni-mainz.de/Dateien/noreika_et_al_-_new_perspectives.pdf

:lol: I was waiting for someone to post something like this. I read on facebook that scientists induced a lucid dream using electromagnetic pulses or something. Hopefully theyll make produts we can buy to do this to ourselves :D

Well, I'm glad I've ended your wait. :mrgreen:

It seems that, in devising more sophisticated ways of making measurements for the sake of study, they have stumbled upon a highly effective way to induce lucid dreams. (Galantamine and NovaDreamer, you'll soon have competition in the market!) :D

As promised, I'll go over a couple of electrophysiological methods (I may mention more later but the ones mentioned so far are more important and pertinent to the topic) that have been used in the study of lucid dreaming. When using magnetic stimulation, it was found that low-frequency pulses inhibited the motorcortex while high-frequency ones excited it. Massimini used magnetic stimulation with the EEG and concluded that neuronic connectivity declined during the transition from REM to NREM. (The prefrontal brain area went from hyperactive to hypoactive.)

The transcranial direct current stimulation method proves to be even better in terms of proficiency. (The potential for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders is looking great!) For the first time the subjects were able to sleep all night in silence with electrodes and anodes attached to their scalps. And how does it work? Well, the cathodes hyperpolarise the targeted cortical region (which inhibits neuronal activity). The anodes depolarise it (causing a neuronal excitation). This type of stimulation is also able to influence vision and the somatosenses without waking the subjects! :ugeek:

When the anodes exerted their influence during NREM, declarative memory improved; and real stimulation, unlike the placebo, improved mood, too. (Emotional and cognitive modulation observed.) :o

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