They are amazing. Amazing. It's magical. The best thing about lucid dreams is that the dreamer realizes they are dreaming.
Unfortunately, only half of us experience lucid dreaming in our lifetimes. Attempts to induce the phenomenon have had mixed results. A 2018 study revealed that lucid dreams can be achieved by using one of the most effective methods.
Researchers at the University of WisconsinMadison, Hawaii and the Lucidity Institute of Hawaii sought to examine how chemicals called Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors (AChEls), might encourage lucid dreams.
The neurotransmitter acetylcholine is thought to help modulate REM sleep, and AChEls help this compound to aggregate in the brain, by inhibiting an enzyme (called acetylcholinesterase) that inactivates acetylcholine.
Galantamine, a drug that is commonly used to treat memory loss in Alzheimer's disease, is fast-acting AChEI. Researchers recruited 121 participants to study the effects of the drug on their ability to recall and have lucid dreams.
It is important to note that these volunteers were not everyday people. They were enthusiasts with an established interest and training in lucid dream Induction Protocols (including the MILD technique).
Galantamine was added to this cognitive training, and lucid stuff began to happen.
Participants were given increasing amounts of the drug over three nights. They started with a placebo and then took 4 mg and then 8 mg the next night.
Participants woke up each night 4.5 hours after the lights went out. They practiced dream induction techniques and ingested their capsule before returning to sleep.
Combining the induction technique with the Alzheimer's medicine appears to trigger lucid dreaming. The higher dose produced a stronger result.
Participants who took the active placebo (0 mg galantamine, still using the MILD method) reported 14 percent having a lucid dream. This number rose to 27 percent when they consumed 4 mg and to 42 percent when they were given an 8 mg dose.
The researchers reported in 2018 that 69 of the 121 participants (57%) had lucid dreams on at least one of two nights of an active dose.
"This protocol is one the most effective methods of inducing lucid thoughts known to-date and holds promise to make lucid dreaming more accessible to a wider audience."
This is important because it could help people have fantastic dreams in which they can control what happens. It could also help to explain the connections between consciousness and lucid dreaming. It could also help people confront their fears while asleep and process trauma.
"This new method finally has a success rate we need in order to properly conduct research on lucid dreamsing," Denholm Aspy, a psychologist from Adelaide, Australia, told New Scientist. He wasn't part of the study.
Galantamine is not a safe technique to experiment with. These findings could lead to an almost endless world of fantasy fun and adventure once more research has been done.
One of the team members, Benjamin Baird, a cognitive neuroscientist from the University of WisconsinMadison, recalled his experience with galantamine by saying, "As my hand ran along a brick wall, I could feel its coarse texture and the outline of individual Bricks."
It's almost like being in Star Trek's holodeck, where you can experience any kind of experience you want.
These findings were published in PLOS One.
This article was published for the first time in August 2018.
