[ad_1]
They are amazing. Unbelievable. Magical. But perhaps the most fantastic thing about lucid dreams – in which the dreamer realizes he is dreaming – is how realistic they seem.
Unfortunately, only about half of us have lucid dreams in our lifetime, and efforts to trigger the phenomenon have yielded mixed results. But a study published in 2018 found one of the most effective ways to induce lucid dreaming yet.
Building on their own previous research, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Lucidity Institute in Hawaii set out to study how chemicals called acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEls) could promote lucid dreaming.
The neurotransmitter acetylcholine is thought to help modulate REM sleep, and AChEls help this compound to aggregate in the brain, by inhibiting an enzyme (called acetylcholinesterase) that inactivates acetylcholine.
It turns out that a drug commonly used to treat memory decline in Alzheimer’s disease – known as galantamine – is a fast-acting AChEI with only mild side effects, so the researchers recruited 121 participants. to see what effect the drug had on their ability to have and recall lucid dreams.
It should be emphasized that these volunteers were not just ordinary people, but enthusiasts with a demonstrated interest in lucid dreaming, who had also been trained with lucid dream induction protocols (including what the the MILD technique is called).
When this cognitive training was paired with galantamine, some lucid things started to happen.
For three consecutive nights, participants took increasing doses of the drug, starting with a placebo, then 4 mg, then 8 mg on the last night.
Each night, participants woke up 4.5 hours after the lights went out, practiced their dream induction techniques, ingested their capsule, and went back to sleep.
The combination of the induction technique combined with the Alzheimer’s disease drug indeed appears to help trigger lucid dreams, and the higher dosage gave a stronger result.
While taking the “active” placebo (0 mg of galantamine but still using the MILD technique), 14 percent of the participants reported lucid dreaming, but this increased to 27 percent when 4 mg was consumed, and is increased to 42 percent with an 8 mg dose.
“This combined protocol allowed a total of 69 out of 121 (57%) participants to have lucid dreaming at least every other night with an active dose of galantamine,” the researchers wrote in their 2018 article.
“This protocol is one of the most effective methods known to date for inducing lucid dreams and shows promise in making lucid dreaming accessible to a wider population.”
This is important, because in addition to helping people have fantastic dreams where they can help control what happens, the research could also help explain the links between lucid dreaming and consciousness, and help people. face their fears and deal with trauma while sleeping safely.
“This new method finally has the success rate we need to be able to do research on lucid dreams properly,” said psychologist Denholm Aspy of the University of Adelaide in Australia, who was not involved in the study. ‘study. New scientist at the time.
Until more is known about the safety of this technique, no one should experience galantamine on their own. But once the research is completed, these discoveries could ultimately pave the way for an almost limitless world of imaginary fun and adventures.
“As I ran my hand along a brick wall… I could feel the coarse texture and outline of the individual bricks,” said one of the team members, cognitive neuroscientist Benjamin Baird of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recalling his own experience with galantamine.
“It’s like stepping into the holodeck in Star Trek where you can have any imaginable experience you choose. “
The results were reported in PLOS A.
A version of this article was first published in August 2018.
Source link
