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Lucid Dreams: Definition, Techniques, and Benefits

Overview

Dreams have always been a mysterious aspect of our lives, when we dream, we do not know that the dream is not real. Hallucinations driven by the brain can feel authentic no matter how amazing and can develop a range of emotions from fear to depression [1]. Lucid dreams take things to another level. The concept behind lucid dreams involves knowing while in the dream that, this is a dream and not reality and for many people the power to alter the “plot of the dream as it unfolds. There are uncertainties regarding how true it is and how much of what you are experiencing is a dream.

Experts say approximately half of the world’s population experience lucid dreaming. The studies on lucid dreams rely greatly on the experience of the person dreaming. Not much is known about people that can manipulate their dreams. Lucid dreams are very difficult to measure objectively. However, when people having lucid dreams are scanned with a polysomnogram or an MRI scanner, brain changes are seen. But experts cannot exactly know when people are dreaming.

The front of the brain is called the prefrontal cortex, this is the part where life-changing decisions are made, and it also helps to recall memories. The prefrontal cortex [2] is bigger in people having lucid dreams. This made experts come to the conclusion that people that have lucid dreams are self-reflective people and think a lot.