The Neurology of Lucid Dreaming

I'm not really sure if this is the right place for a post like this, but if it's not, please feel free to move it where it belongs.

Anyway...

For a long time, I've been thinking about the neurology of consciousness. I know that it basically (as far as we understand) works like this: sensory information and information about the current state of the mind (that is, the current state of the cerebral cortex) is sent to a structure in the brainstem called the thalamus, which then "translates" the input and relays it back to the cortex. This kind of loop is what allows us to "see what's in our minds", and to be self-aware.

I've been thinking that, since the thalamus has a lot to do with regulating sleep and mental arousal as well, whether or not lucid dreaming might simply be an attempt to keep the thalamus from being so "inhibited" when we are asleep, that is, keeping enough of it "switched on" that we are still capable of forming the kind of feedback loop necessary for self-awareness. I wonder also if that might be why dream consciousness is often so much weaker and fuzzier than waking consciousness.

Any thoughts?

Sounds plausible, to me. :)

My opinion would be the same as above.

I get the feeling that the prefrontal cortex must be involved somehow, too. I guess that, since it is (I think) responsible for integrating sensory information and relaying it back to the thalamus, that you'd have to keep it awake, too, or else the sensory information being recalled or produced in the dream wouldn't come together or make any sense. Or, perhaps this could explain why some dreams just seem to be jumbled collections of ideas and impressions.

I don't know...I think I may be taking this a bit too far...

meh. I like your theory.

Read this, (you sound like you've probably read it already, but it should help you answer your question).

Lucid dreaming: Evidence that REM sleep can support unimpaired cognitive function and a methodology for studying the psychophysiology of dreaming

by Stephen LaBerge

I think all of neocortex must play a role in dreaming since dreams often reproduce sensory imagery (of every modality). I also suspect the pineal gland to play a crucial role (with its secretion of melatonin - circadian rhythms, and DMT - vivid hallucinations, reseach it, its really interesing). However, it is interesting that motor cortex is essentially shut off (total paralysis). One final note, there are also other interesting phenomena that go on when entering a dream, like synchronous bursting of action potentials of many cortical neurons and asynchronous bursting (sounds like epilepsy to me) and brain wave phenomena. I'd really like to find out more about the electrophysiology of dreaming as well its thalamic-cortical pathways.

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Originally Posted by Asymptote

I get the feeling that the prefrontal cortex must be involved somehow, too. I guess that, since it is (I think) responsible for integrating sensory information and relaying it back to the thalamus, that you'd have to keep it awake, [...]

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That would draw a bridge to stimulation methods like this or this or binaural auditive stimulation. I would be more careful with the word "consciousness" though. I would rather replace that word with "self-awareness" in this context. Consciousness is a somewhat broader term and next to impossible to define.

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Originally Posted by fy_iceworld

I also suspect the pineal gland to play a crucial role (with its secretion of melatonin - circadian rhythms, and DMT - vivid hallucinations, reseach it, its really interesing).

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I don't know how much experience you have with things like e.g. DMT or Salvinorin A, but I want to remark, that we're not talking about simple distortions. We're talking about a complete replacement of reality with another one that most couldn't even imagine. I find it hard to believe, that "messing around" with a few brain activities can pose an explanation for that.

For me, physical reality is a metaphorical state with symbols and expressions. The brain and its functions are symbols of thinking, rationality, emotion, perception, identity, and so on. But I would not say that the brain is the cause of such things. I consider it a metaphorical manifestation of the consciousness... and I'm not referring to our ego that we are mostly aware of. How can you change things in reality? With the symbolic act of manipulating things in reality. And how can you change reality itself? With the symbolic act of changing yourself (brain / perception / body). Have you ever thought about reality as an intuitive user interface?