◆ SpookStack

‘Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003100140001-2 Perceptual and Motor Skslls, 1981, 52, 727-732. © Perceptual and Motor Skills 1981 LUCID DREAMING VERIFIED BY VOLITIONAL COMMUNICATION DURING REM SLEEP! STEPHEN P. LA BERGE, LYNN E. NAGEL, WILLIAM C. DEMENT, AND VINCENT P. ZARCONE, JR. Stanford University Summary.—The occurrence of lucid dreaming (dreaming while being con- scious that one is dreaming) has been verified for 3 selected subjects who signaled that they knew they were dreamiog while continuing to dream during unequivocal REM sleep. The signals consisted of particular dream actions having observable concomitants and were performed in accordance with pre- Sleep agreement. The abilicy of proficient lucid dreamers to signal in this matter makes possible a new approach to dream research—~such subjects, while lucid, could carry out diverse dream experiments marking the exact time of particular dream events, allowing derivation of precise psychophysiological correlations and methodical testing of hypotheses. That we sometimes dream while knowing that we are dreaming was first noted by Aristotle. According to accounts of conscious of “lucid” dreaming, as this phenomenon is commonly termed, the dreamer can possess a conscious- ness fully comparable in coherence, clarity, and cognitive complexity to that of the waking state, while continuing to dream vividly (Van Eeden, 1913; Brown, 1936; Green, 1968; Tart, 1979; LaBerge, 1980b). As a result of theoretical assumptions about the nature of dreaming, contemporary dream re- Searchers have questioned whether these experiences take place during sleep or during brief periods of hallucinatory wakefulness. The purpose of the present study was to give an empirical answer to this question by determining the physiological conditions in which lucid dreaming occurs, Our experimenral approach was suggested by previous investigations (An- trobus, ef al., 1965; Salamy, 1970; Brown & Cartwright, 1978), showing thac sleeping subjects are sometimes able to produce behavioral responses highly correlated with dreaming. Since these subjects have nor, according to Cart- wright (1978), been conscious of making the responses, these earlier studies do not provide evidence for voluntary action (and thus, reflective conscious- ness) during sleep. However, we reasoned that what could be done uncon- sciously could also be done consciously. The experience of one of us (S.P.L.) indicated that, if subjects became aware they were dreaming, they could also remember to perform previously ‘The writing of this manuscript was supported, in part, by the Holmes Center for Re- search in Holistic Healing. We are grateful to Drs. J. van den Hoed and R. Coleman for helpful comments and Mr. R. Baldwin, Ms..S. Bornstein, and Mr. S. Coburn for expert technical assistance. Request reprints from Stephen P, LaBerge, Ph.D., Sleep Research Center, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003100140001-2