• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • First Impressions - The Game
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Scientists make massive breakthrough with method that could help you unlock a 'new state of consciousness'

Home> News> Health

Published 17:04 4 May 2025 GMT+1

Scientists make massive breakthrough with method that could help you unlock a 'new state of consciousness'

Researchers have been looking into lucid dreams and what happens when we experience them

Lucy Devine

Lucy Devine

Scientists think they could have made a huge breakthrough after discovering that a certain type of dream could open up a 'new state of consciousness'.

Researchers looking into lucid dreams have found that having these types of vivid sleep states could actually be more than just a dream, but a different state of consciousness altogether.

Lucid dreaming is when a person is dreaming but is aware that they are dreaming, and is able to control different aspects of the dream.

Advert

They usually occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) phase of sleep and studies have shown that around half of us have had at least one.

In fact, 20 percent are reported to have lucid dreams as often as every month.

Lucid dreaming occurs during the REM sleep state (Getty Stock Image)
Lucid dreaming occurs during the REM sleep state (Getty Stock Image)

Now, it seems scientists are starting to understand more about dreams and what happens when we experience them.

Turns out, research has revealed that the brain activity that occurs during a lucid dream is completely different to what occurs in a regular dream.

Advert

READ MORE:

SLEEP EXPERT ISSUES WARNING TO ANYONE WHO GETS 6 HOURS OR LESS A NIGHT

WHY YOU HEAR YOUR HEARTBEAT ON YOUR PILLOW AT NIGHT AND WHEN TO BE CONCERNED

The team - led by Çağatay Demirel of the Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging at Radboud University Medical Center - found that lucid dreaming is associated with reduced beta brain waves in regions that control spatial awareness, touch and self-perception.

Meanwhile, lucid dreaming also sees an increase of gamma waves in the medial prefrontal cortex, which suggests an increase in focus and consciousness.

Advert

Lucid dreaming happens when a person knows they are dreaming (Getty Stock Image)
Lucid dreaming happens when a person knows they are dreaming (Getty Stock Image)

To further understand lucid dreams, the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, compared brain activity during different sleep states.

They found that during lucid dreaming, beta waves were only reduced in the right temporal lobe and the parietal lobe.

Beta waves are high-frequency waves that are commonly observed when a person is awake.

Scientists think that the fact these waves are reduced could be a sign that the brain knows the dream isn't real, which is why the person is aware they are in fact dreaming.

Advert

The team analysed different brain patterns (Getty Stock Image)
The team analysed different brain patterns (Getty Stock Image)

Instead of lucid dreaming being a hybrid of being in a REM sleep state and awake, the study has highlighted that the brain activity that takes place during a lucid dream is actually completely unique, which led researchers to believe that a lucid dream has its own special state of consciousness.

"This research opens the door to a deeper understanding of lucid dreaming as an intricate state of consciousness by pointing to the possibility that conscious experience can arise from within sleep itself," said Demirel.

"This work offers a perspective that could challenge the traditional binary view of sleep and wakefulness in future research."

According to the SleepFoundation.org, there are ways to try and induce a lucid dream.

Advert

The MILD technique can be used when you wake up in the middle of the night.

The site explains: "Upon awakening in the night, try to recall what you’ve been dreaming about or the details of a previous dream you’d like to reenter.

"Identify signs from the dream that will help you recognise you are dreaming if you fall back asleep and successfully reenter the dream.

"Repeat these words, or your own version of them: 'When I begin dreaming, I will remember that I’m dreaming'.

"Continue recalling dream content and repeating that phrase until you fall asleep."

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images

Topics: News, Sleep, Health

Lucy Devine
Lucy Devine

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

8 hours ago
9 hours ago
  • 8 hours ago

    King Charles won't be at Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration due to royal protocol

    The monarch, nor Prince William, will be attending the inauguration of Pope Leo

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Pope Francis’ final wish for ‘Popemobile’ ahead of Leo XIV's inauguration this weekend

    The inauguration of the new Pope is set to take place this weekend

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Weightlifter, 31, given 5 years to live after believing 'common' symptoms were caused by gym training

    Scott was on his way to work one day when he suffered a seizure

    News
  • 9 hours ago

    What was found inside Nazi files discovered in basement of Argentina's Supreme Court

    The Nazi documents could help clarify events in relation to the Holocaust

    News
  • How ‘10-3-2-1-0’ method could help you get a perfect night's sleep as trend explained
  • New NHS AI could help predict what diseases you will get but it has seen 57 million people's medical history
  • Doctor shares simple 'game-changing' method to help people fall asleep faster
  • Experts give exact age that you should exercise more in order to help prevent dementia