From the research we see so far, the brain is extrememy active when we dream. When we become lucid, our brainwaves change and resemble more our waking state. At the same time we experience higher brain activity in certain regions as you may have guessed.

Now, lucid dreaming does not make us smarter per say, but to some point, we could consider it to be a cognitive (and motor!) enhancer, due the possibility of improving certain skills without any effort.

Where it gets interesting is when that "awareness" you mention (meta-consciousness or self awareness could be other terms for it), starts to become a regular event. This wouldn't necessarily make us smarter, but it would bring many relevant benefits: think people who tend to loose contact with reality, like dementia patients, schizophrenics, just to mention 2 examples.

The thing is: do we need lucid dreaming for that? Is it really the responsible agent? Because if you think about it, what is making you lucid are actually actions you perform in the waking life

Still, I'd also agree with people saying that AT LEAST, lucid dreaming can bring many positive psychological benefits to those who practice.

Ps: just realized that my point only stands if we assume waking life practice and the lucid dreams themselves as 2 different components.