Lucid Dreaming - The REM-Dreamer

Psychology was an interest for me even before I did my degree, and one of the more interesting things in psychology is altered states of consciousness. I've often found myself idly reading up on research into drugs, dreaming, and the effects of sensory deprivation. I've never felt particularly tempted to take drugs because they make you stupider and you lose control of yourself, but it's interesting to look at the effect drugs can have on perception and then think about the implications this has regarding consciousness in general.

Everyone experiences dreaming, though people seem to differ in how vivid or well recalled they are (they are generally not remembered at all). Sensory deprivation is something that has been studied in a lab setting on humans, with people often volunteering quite readily so as to give themself time for some undistracted thought. Almost invariably they find it unpleasant with their thoughts jumping around, and visual hallucinations are common. Sleeping is not so different from sensory deprivation in that the brain isn't getting much sensory data, and it's notable that what does get in can become incorporated into (or trigger changes in) dream content.

Lucid dreaming is what occurs when someone realises they are in a dream while dreaming. It's not that uncommon in some contexts, for example people wishing themself awake during a nightmare suggests that at some point they thought (or hoped) that they were experiencing a dream. More common is to have a dream where you realise you can do certain unusual things (rewind events, swim through the air etc.) but not realise outright that you are dreaming, and could really do and experience pretty much whatever you chose to.

A couple of weeks ago while reading up on Lucid Dreaming again I ordered a book called Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LeBerge, a researcher who did some pioneering work on human sleep studies. The book is very readable and, although not science per se, follows a scientific framework. It is also practical in asking 'what can I use lucid dreaming for?' and 'how can I induce lucid dreams?'.

In brief people have used lucid dreams for;
-Having fun (creating enjoyable situations, flying etc.)
-Rehearsal and improving performance (e.g. practicing a sport or task in your dream)
-Insight into yourself or others (this latter item is quite speculative and nebulous)

Over the next 10 days or so I followed the suggestions for ways to help you induce lucid dreams, which basically comes down to recording your dreams, noting 'dreamsigns' that appear frequently in dreams but not so much in waking life (e.g. conflict, meeting famous individuals etc.). You then try to teach yourself to question 'am I asleep?' when in the presence of these dreamsigns. This question can be answered by doing things like checking the time twice (in a dream it will be significantly different), reading something twice (the text content will change) or doing something impossible (e.g. flying). And if you realise that you are dreaming then you become lucid and gain control over the dream. I thought I had good chances of success as I seem to have more vivid dreams (and/or better subsequent recollection) than most people, but over the 10 days I didn't have any luck. When remembering dreams afterwards I could often see the dreamsign in retrospect (e.g. a price tag on a product changing when I looked at it twice during a dream), but it wasn't sufficient.

Obviously some dreamsigns are easier to recognise than others... it would be nice to be able to put a signpost in your dream saying "you are dreaming". And this is essentially what the REM-Dreamer (a 'Lucid Dreaming Induction Device') claims to do. By monitoring eye movements it can make a good guess as to when you are dreaming, at which point it gives visual and/or audio cues which should immediately make an appearance in your dream one way or another. Recognising these cues should basically tell you that you're in a dream.





Reviews of this product are few, with the main criticisms being that it woke light sleepers (though the device lets you pick levels of intensity for input), and one person who found it 'too effective'(?). I am quite a deep sleeper, and don't usually have trouble getting back to sleep, so I wasn't particularly concerned on that point. Also REM priods (which is when dreams occur) happen most in the latter part of the night, especially after 5-6 hours of sleeping. This means if you have the REM-Dreamer only become active after e.g. 6 hours of sleep then you should get at least a good minimum.

A few days ago I bought one. They're quite expensive, although if it's effective for even 1 of those 3 listed 'reasons' to have a lucid dream then I will have considered it money well spent. If not, well, this blog will serve as a deterrent to people who are considering the product and are looking through user reviews.

My first few nights following getting this I was somewhat unwell with a fluey cold, and was sleeping too badly to properly test it. The first time I did test it was after putting it on at around 6AM. The cues occurred (I believe) in fairly light sleep, and my dream interpreted the visual cues (flashing lights) as graphical glitches, which made me think I had been playing a computer game in the dream. I became partly aware that I was asleep, and also became aware that my body was in bed and paralysed (which is typical for REM sleep), but not in a comfortable position, and one way or another I basically made myself wake up. A little unfortunate in retrospect, but promising.

More recently I tried using it for a full night and it claimed to have displayed cues 7 times, but I don't recall seeing these in my dreams. I had it set to make an alarm to wake you a few minutes after displaying each cue (this is to let you evaluate whether the intensity of cue is useful to you, and see the forms it can appear in your dream), and after 4-5 unseen cues I increased the 'LED flash brightness' to full. Later on I became partly aware that I was dreaming (and for some reason tested this by seeing if I could make tattoos appear on myself), but then got sidetracked by a cat being run over in the dream (maybe I had heard a cat yowl outside my bedroom in reality?). I then lost whatever thread of lucidity I had briefly managed, and the dream followed its natural 'lets get this cat to a vet asap!' storyline.

Looking at what information and feedback is available it is not unusual for people to have to spend some time finding what settings are right for them, and it seems I am a fairly heavy sleeper. Highest intensity lighting with some fairly quiet audio cues (bleeping) will be my next trial.

This post may seem a bit out of place on this largely chess themed blog, but I needed to justify the 'and other experiments' title somehow. And as for the potential possibility of using lucid dreaming to 'improve performance'... what better than chess to test that!?

Murrrr:

"The idea of lucid dreaming is quite interesting. For one to be able to control their dreams and do what ever they want without fear. Want to play a game with Kasparov? Or maybe study a game with some other GM? Lucid dreams should be the way.
...
I'm interested in the possibility of putting together chess and lucid dreaming to learn about chess as a game and about myself as a player."

As quoted above, Google finds that this idea is not original to me, but although that article was dated over a year ago unfortunately the individual has not posted on the topic (or much else) since. Maybe they didn't reach the point where they could induce lucid dreams on a semi-routine basis. The idea is quite speculative, but it is pretty clear that much of chess ability is determined by a kind of intuition, which must be based upon knowledge or thought processes unavailable to conscious introspection (learned from past experience). Access to this is where the dreaming may help.

I should however mention I recall Kramnik talking about an opening novelty he created during a dream, which he said turned out to be garbage when he looked at it awake. Hopefully lucid dreams will be different!