Why Do Lucid Dreams Occur?
- Science Holic
- Jul 1
- 4 min read
Author: Alex Yang
Editors: Ethan Tai, Justin Tai
Artist: Caitland So
Lucid dreaming occurs when you are aware that you are dreaming but you still continue to dream. Sometimes, it’s possible to have control over what you do in the dream, and the majority of people who experience lucid dreaming either enjoy it or are interested in it. Many wonder about what is the cause of lucid dreams? To answer this, it’s important to consider how the brain works. What types of people are more likely to have lucid dreams, and what technology or techniques can cause them?

Dreams occur mostly during a stage of sleep known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement). During REM, your brain is highly active, and it is during this stage that dreaming mainly occurs. During normal dreams, you are unaware that you are dreaming. However, during lucid dreaming, the part of your brain known as the prefrontal cortex wakes up. This part of your brain helps you think, make decisions, and understand who you are. When this part of the brain is wide awake, you are aware that you are dreaming, and knowing that makes your dream more vivid. Studies show that brain activity during lucid dreaming and normal dreaming is different. During lucid dreaming, quickly moving waves, known as gamma waves, experience unusually high movement in the front part of the brain, suggesting that the brain is unusually more awake, despite the body still being at rest. This is one reason lucid dreams feel so realistic and vivid, and this strange state of the brain demonstrates that dreaming occasionally gets the world of sleep mixed up with waking thought.

People who think more about themselves and their feelings are more likely to experience lucid dreams. Additionally, people with better dream recall have a higher probability of lucid dreaming. If you are able to recall a significant amount of dreams, you may begin noticing patterns or strange occurrences in your dreams, which is your trigger when dreaming. One helpful way to do this is to keep a dream journal. Writing down your dreams every morning trains your brain to pay attention to what happens when you are asleep. Personality also plays a role in whether you are more likely to have lucid dreams. People who are more imaginative or open are more prone to generating lucid dreams. These people often try special methods such as dream journals or reality checks to program their brain to increase the chance of experiencing an episode of lucid dreaming. Furthermore, creative individuals such as artists and writers, or those who regularly use their imagination for work, are more likely to experience vivid or lucid dreams.
There are several techniques that people use to help them experience lucid dreams. One method is called MILD, which stands for Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams. This method involves repeating lines like “I will know I’m dreaming” before you fall asleep. Repeating these statements again and again helps set your mental intentions and can help you become more aware during a dream. It’s almost as if you’re planting a thought in your brain that continues to grow even when you’re sleeping.
Another method involves reality checking, which is spending time throughout the day to ask yourself: "Am I dreaming?" It may also involve conducting experiments and performing random actions, such as poking your finger into your palm or reading a clock twice to check if the digits rotate. If you practice these activities a lot throughout the day, you can eventually try to perform them in a dream and realize that you are in a dream.
Alternating lights, gentle sounds, or slight vibrations during the REM sleep stage alert the brain that it is in REM without completely waking the person up. There are also special sleep masks and smartphone apps that can deliver this type of light or provide sound stimuli at the appropriate time. Interestingly, researchers have conducted experiments where lucid dreamers used their eye movements to signal that they were lucid dreaming.

Lucid dreaming may be used for reasons other than leisure. In some cases, lucid dreaming is used as an attempt to control nightmares or phobias. For example, someone who has the same nightmare repeatedly can learn to become conscious while the nightmare is occurring and change the outcome of the nightmare, giving that person a sense of control and reduce fear. On the other hand, some people use lucid dreaming to problem-solve or brainstorm alternative solutions for real-life situations. Since the mind during dreaming is non-judgmental and free, one can use lucid dreaming to generate new images and thoughts that may not be possible when you’re awake. Mindfulness and meditation may also enhance your ability to lucid dream. By being more present with your thoughts and emotions while you are awake, you are working to become more mentally alert overall which can carry through into your dreams. People who meditate tend to have clearer dreams, and some reports indicate that dreams are more peaceful than normal.
The brain comes to life when you are dreaming during REM sleep, so you become aware while dreaming. Intelligent, inquisitive people with good dream recall are more likely to experience lucid dreams. Practice, and sometimes help from certain aids or techniques, can make someone a master of lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is fun–it can enable people to conquer phobias, remove nightmares, explore ideas, or become familiar with their own mind. It is a natural talent that, with time and practice, may lead to wondrous adventures during dreaming.
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