Thread: Brain Activity of a Lucid Dreamer?

Gray matter is comprised of unmyelinated neurons. Neurons with myelin sheaths around their axons make up white matter. The fact that those people have more slow-signaling neurons really doesn't say anything at all until you find out which brain structures are larger than normal, and which are smaller.

And what about altered brain chemistry for Lucid Dreamers? Is the brain chemistry during lucid dreams different from that of non lucid dreams?

I know absolutely nothing of brain chemistry, but I do know enough about consciousness and psychology to postulate that there are no major difference between the brains of a lucid dreamer and a regular dreamer. Why? Because whether you are lucid or not, your mind goes through relatively the same experience, it's just a matter of awareness. A lucid dreamer is more aware in the waking world than a non lucid dreamer.

I'm sure many of you have had moments driving to work, and when you got there, you don't even remember the trip. You were sort of functioning on "autopilot". This concept applies to dreaming. Whether you realize you're dreaming or not, you go through the same process, it's only a matter of each individual's level of awareness in general, not necessarily just in dreams. In non-lucid dreams, you are still capable of controlling the outcome of the dream. It happens to me a lot. I'll be in a scary situation, and wish something would get me out of it, and then it does. But at no point am I lucid.

The only difference is awareness, if you ask me. I could be totally wrong, I'm not a psychologist.

I think the major operational differences would involve higher cognitive functions, memory regions (you can remember waking life during lucid dreams, not normal ones), decision-making regions, etc. etc.

Overall, a great many brain areas should be more active during a lucid dream than during a normal dream. I myself am curious as to which exactly are more active, but I'm not sure that any good research has been done to that extent.

I'm working in a neuroscience lab at the moment, and after my PhD I'd like to research sleep, and hopefully dreams. At the moment, most sleep-related research is very clinical. Since we know so little about sleep, research into dreams is limited. Saying that, there are quite a few papers out there regarding lucid dreaming. Go onto www.pubmed.com and search for lucid dreaming.