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>> Joe: A lucid dream is a dream where the dreamer knows he is dreaming.
So much so, that the dreamer may in fact be able to become the architect of the dreamscape
and control the narrative of the dream.
Think of it as a marriage between the sleeping and waking minds, a kind of a middle ground
where both states of consciousness interact.
>> Trish: Now, most people have heard of lucid dreaming, but the experience is somewhat of
a rare one, and scientists have been trying to figure out ways in which to trigger these
self-aware night visions.
>> Joe: Turns out that trigger is a 40 hertz, electrical zap to the noggin.
Gamma activity increases in the frontal cortex when we dream, and these scientists took note
and zapped willing participants with varying electrical doses once they entered dreamland.
>> Trish: Over four science filled nights of fun and experimentation, scientists tinkered
with 27 willing participants who were previously not lucid dreamers.
Once they fell asleep, their brain wave patterns were monitored, and once the gamma waves reflected
the dream state, the scientists stimulated the frontal cortex with 30 second bursts of
electricity, anywhere between 2 and 100Hz.
>> Joe: The volunteers were then jostled awake and asked to describe their dream experiences,
and what the researchers found is that 77 percent of them controlled their dreams after
getting hit with the 40hz spark.
>> Trisha: Which is amazing.
But what’s interesting is that the other levels of electricity didn’t elicit a dreaming
response, except for 25HZ, which a much smaller number of people responded to…because…
no one knows.
>> Joe: The brain be an amazing enigma box of confusion and electrical impulses.
My favorite quote from the study is from Dr. John Allan Hobson who said, "I never thought
this would work.
But it looks like it does."
>> Trisha: Moving forward, this research will not only open the doors to controlling our
dreams, but it will also assist scientist in further understanding the human brain and
different states of consciousness.
>> Joe: Awesome.
Guys, gals, have you ever experienced a lucid dream?
Please describe it to us in the comments below.
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