Don't Forget your Eight Hours!

Sleep deprivation is a serious health concern that can lead to decreased cognitive function and a wide variety of other negative factors on the body. This week, I interviewed Brook Borlie, a senior biobehavioral health major at the Penn State, to discuss the negative effects of sleep loss. Ms. Borlie helped facilitate a research project in which the bodily changes that occur during sleep loss were monitored and analyzed. This week, I plan to cover why sleep is so important, and how lucid dreaming can increase the effectiveness of sleep time as well as aid individuals in overcoming symptoms of insomnia.

During our conversation, Ms. Borlie stated that sleep deprivation can "cause a multitude of detrimental effects on the human body." Most notably, reduced insulin sensitivity and subsequent increased risk of diabetes, reduced cognitive function, and increased fat uptake are some of the most significant adverse health effects of not getting enough sleep. She went further to say that "[increased] stress levels are shown by a higher release of cortisol."

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average healthy young adult requires between 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. Psychologically speaking, lack of sleep can cause individuals to become irritable, less responsive, and highly stressed out. This can lead to decreased work output and negatively impact relationships, educational goals, and careers. On the other hand, feeling well rested during the day can improve focus and output.

You may be wondering, how can lucid dreaming increase the amount of hours I can sleep? Well, in short, it can't. On the upside, however, lucid dreaming can reportedly make sleep more effective, and thus decrease the amount of time an individual needs to sleep to feel the same level of restfulness. Lucid dreaming not only increases the restfulness of participants, but it also makes sleeping more desirable to the individual. For this reason, insomnia can be combated.

Electronic devices are a common cause of insomnia in today's culture, and sleep loss can be a result of their use late into the night. Once lucid dreaming becomes common practice, the idea of sleeping becomes more enticing than just to catch up on rest. Dreaming can become a fun activity in which one can explore and have fun, or solve real life issues. This encourages people to put down their phones and get to sleep faster, and this can help combat symptoms of insomnia. In my personal experience, I have grown away from staying up on my phone at night and instead yearn to get to bed as fast as possible.

Overall, I hope the information and tools I've given to you can help you achieve this goal of lucid dreaming. The benefits of the activity are truly one of a kind, and I believe that every person who has read my blogs can eventually have a lucid dreaming state. Keep trying all the techniques I have scattered throughout the last ten blog posts, and enjoy it! Good luck, and feel free to shoot me any questions you have during your journey!

Image Credits (in order of appearance):

Image provided by Steven Worster

Image provided by Quinn Dombrowski

The Science Behind the Fantasy

Technology and its relationship with lucid dreaming is ever increasing. As more research is conducted connecting the two, it becomes clear that lucid dreaming may someday become an activity that anyone can partake in. For example, a Frankfurt University study has recently discovered a form of electronic brain stimulation that can increase the odds of lucid dreams by up to 77%. Supposedly, 27 subjects woke up after their brains were electrified with patterns during their sleep to report that they realized they were dreaming while still asleep! The experiment, "Induction of self awareness in dreams through frontal low current stimulation of gamma activity", details the full design of the tests and is an exciting example of how science can help people reach their goal of lucid dreaming.

Exciting new research is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the evolving culture of lucid dreaming. Companies are also beginning to sell devices that reportedly induce lucidity in dreams and pill supplements that increase the odds of a successful lucid dreaming experience. The success of these various products on the market are not solidified, so it is hard to tell if they actually work or are merely a scam.

Specifically, companies like Foc.us utilize the same arguments I have used before when discussing the benefits of lucid dreaming. The ideas of solving real life problems, exploring a unique new world, and experiencing a magical feeling is advertised as the primary reasons to buy products that supposedly increase lucid dreaming. Regardless of whether the products work in the way they are advertised, the claimed benefits are in alignment with my own observations about the practice.

While the increased interest in lucid dreaming is exciting, one idea is absent from discussion within these experiments and online retailers. In my opinion, the experiments and products being sold may not actually increase lucid dreaming, but the mere idea of thinking about it may increase someone's success rate. For example, the participants in the brain stimulation experiment knew they were subjects in a sleep study and thus may become more subconsciously aware while asleep. Similarly, purchasing products to increase lucid dreaming may only work because cognitive recognition is required to understand what purchase is meant to accomplish. In other words, I suspect that the experiments and market products may act as a subconscious placebo when it comes to increasing the frequency of lucid dreams.

Hopefully all this scientific buzz about lucid dreaming has you excited to keep practicing this week. Just think, merely reading this post could help you make a lucid realization during your slumber because it requires you to think about the activity! Next week, I plan to talk about the importance of sleep and how sleep deprivation can impact your ability to lucid dream as well as how lucid dreaming can help decrease symptoms of insomnia.

Image Credits (in order of appearance):

Image provided by Amy

Image provided by Fabio Hofnik