Lucid dreams: From lab validation to real-world applications

Guest edited by Remington Mallett, this special online issue of Dreaming brings together nine articles from researchers across eight countries, all focused on lucid dreaming—the phenomenon of being aware that one is dreaming while the dream unfolds. Once dismissed as impossible or pathological by mainstream psychology, lucid dreaming gained scientific legitimacy in the late 1970s when researchers demonstrated that dreamers could send prearranged eye movement signals from within REM sleep (Hearne, 1978; LaBerge, 1980). Four decades later, the field has moved far beyond proving existence to exploring communication across the dream–wake boundary, refining induction techniques, mapping individual differences, and investigating clinical applications. This collection represents the current frontier: examining what types of minds exist inside lucid dreaming and how to interact with them.

Lucid dreaming research has reached a critical inflection point. We now have the psychophysiological tools to verify lucidity objectively, but the field’s most exciting questions demand richer communication with dreamers during REM sleep. These articles collectively address the rate-limiting step in dream cognition research—expanding our bandwidth for real-time interaction with the dreaming mind. Moreover, they reveal lucidity as componential rather than binary: Meta-awareness, control, perspective, and affect can dissociate in ways that matter for both basic science and clinical practice. By situating lucid dreams among neighboring altered states and examining who becomes lucid and why, this collection reflects that the field has moved from “does it exist?” to “what can we learn from it?”

• Real-time communication from inside REM sleep can be expanded dramatically using sophisticated eye movement decoding systems that achieve full-alphabet “eye-typing,” making granular cognitive experiments inside dreams genuinely feasible (Amo et al., 2025).
• Lucidity is not synonymous with omnipotent control. When lucid dreamers asked dream characters to draw or attempted to compose poetry, these characters often behaved like independent agents, and the creative process involved both obstacles and unexpected inspirations the dreamer could influence but not dictate (Štuikytė & Stumbrys, 2025; Zadra & Green, 2025).
• One in five lucid dreams is a lucid nightmare, with neuroticism and baseline nightmare frequency as key predictors. When people seek help, treatment-oriented strategies outperform ad hoc coping (Löhner et al., 2025).
• Adolescents report using lucidity for safe exploration and skill rehearsal, experiencing empowerment and increased self-efficacy even when objective skill transfer remains uncertain (Bonamino et al., 2025).
• Individual differences crystallize around perceptual style rather than intelligence: Openness, extraversion, and vivid visual imagery predict lucid dream frequency, while scholastic aptitude does not (Varnum & Varnum, 2025).

• Clinicians now have population data suggesting that lucid nightmare interventions should be tailored to individual profiles—particularly for those high in neuroticism or baseline nightmare frequency. The evidence that treatment-style approaches show promise over informal coping strategies suggests structured interventions merit systematic implementation.
• The finding that lucid control is partial and negotiated has direct therapeutic implications. Practitioners should not expect clients to simply “turn off” nightmares but rather to exert meaningful influence within dreams that retain their own generative logic, which reframes realistic treatment goals.
• For adolescent mental health applications, lucidity offers a safe space for rehearsal and exploration that builds self-efficacy, although practitioners should remain aware that dream characters may resist plans and that subjective empowerment does not always track with measurable outcomes.
• The association between vivid imagery and lucidity suggests that interventions targeting visualization skills might enhance lucid dream frequency more effectively than cognitive ability training, offering a practical focus for those teaching induction techniques.
• Tibetan Buddhist dream yoga’s tiered curriculum demonstrates that what people do with lucidity once achieved may matter as much as frequency, offering practitioners a roadmap for training programs that move beyond simply inducing lucidity to cultivating specific therapeutic capacities.

This article is in the Clinical Psychology topic area.

Amo, V., Godt, N., Leugering, J., & Appel, K. (2025). Leveraging deep neural networks for lucid dream communication via two-dimensional electrooculography. Dreaming, 35(Suppl 1), S7–S40. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000304

Bonamino, C., Watling, C., & Polmaet, R. (2025). Exploring adolescent lucid dreams: A pathway to learning, growth, and mental well-being. Dreaming, 35(Suppl 1), S94–S119. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000293

Hearne, K. (1978). Lucid dreams: An electro-physiological and psychological study [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Liverpool.

LaBerge, S. P. (1980). Lucid dreaming as a learnable skill: A case study. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 51(3, Suppl 2), 1039–1042. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1980.51.3f.1039opens in new window

Löhner, K., Schredl, M., & Göritz, A. S. (2025). Lucid nightmares and lucid nightmare distress: Associated factors and coping strategies. Dreaming, 35(Suppl 1), S58–S70. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000316

Štuikytė, G., & Stumbrys, T. (2025). Lucid dream poetry: An exploration into creative potentials of the lucid dream state. Dreaming, 35(Suppl 1), S82–S93. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000328

Varnum, M. E. W., & Varnum, C. B. B. (2025). Who has lucid dreams? Individual difference correlates of the frequency of lucid dreams. Dreaming, 35(Suppl 1), S120–S126. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000317

Zadra, A., & Green, D. (2025). To dream, perchance to draw: Dream characters’ responses to a request in lucid dreams. Dreaming, 35(Suppl 1), S71–S81. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000311