For decades, science considered lucid dreaming – when you are aware that you are dreaming – to be merely a curiosity within the REM phase. However, recent research led by neuroscientist Çağatay Demirel at the Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging has completely changed the landscape. Published in The Journal of Neuroscience, the study reveals that this phenomenon is not a ‘subtype’ of sleep, but rather an independent and unique state of consciousness. Using electroencephalograms (EEG), the team at Radboud University demonstrated that the lucid brain operates with patterns of activity that fit neither wakefulness nor traditional sleep, opening a new window for understanding how our mind constructs reality.
Lucid dream
Historically, self-awareness has been considered a brief transition toward awakening. However, the study conducted by neuroscientist Çağatay Demirel at the Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging disproves this premise after identifying a specific electrophysiological signature. Although the body remains in total motor paralysis, the mind lights up with signals of mental clarity that break the classical paradigm: consciousness does not need the external world to activate.
This finding overturns all frameworks of modern neuroscience, as it has now been observed that the brain can generate a fully conscious experience without external stimuli. Researchers have found a “natural laboratory” to study the limits of thought. Lucid dreaming is thus confirmed as a model to observe how the brain “creates” the self and the environment autonomously.
What is the study based on?
The focus of the study is on the analysis of brain frequencies. Data obtained by the Radboud team show a notable increase in beta waves, which are typical of the waking state and are activated when we are focused on solving logical problems or making complex decisions. In lucid dreaming, these waves concentrate in areas related to memory and spatial perception.
This fact explains why the lucid dreamer can act at will within their own mind, having real cognitive control and being able to alter scenarios and make deliberate decisions (which is not possible in REM sleep). Additionally, the study highlights the presence of gamma waves, the fastest in the brain spectrum, in regions linked to self-referential thinking. This means that the subject not only imagines things but also recognizes themselves as the protagonist of the action.
The difference of the ego
One of the most striking aspects of the research is the comparison of this new state with altered states induced by substances like LSD or ayahuasca. Both states coincide in the creation of visual images with closed eyes, but they differ in a clear concept: the ego. Under the influence of substances, the sleeper does not have that sense of identity and instead is carried away by the mind. However, lucid dreaming allows one to maintain identity as well as the capacity for reasoning and decision-making.
Frequently asked questions
Why is lucid dreaming now considered an independent state?
Çağatay Demirel’s study demonstrated through EEG that the lucid brain has a unique electrical activity that does not match either REM sleep or being awake. It is a state where the mind generates self-awareness and mental clarity without the need for external stimuli.
What do beta and gamma waves allow you to do during sleep?
These high-frequency waves give the dreamer cognitive control and self-referential thinking. Thanks to them, the person can make logical decisions, manipulate the dream environment, and recognize themselves as the protagonist of the experience.
What sets lucid dreaming apart from a psychedelic experience?
The main difference is the maintenance of the “ego.” While substances like LSD tend to dissolve identity, in lucid dreaming the subject retains their sense of self, reasoning ability, and voluntary control over their actions.
