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Objective. The arousal of consciousness during REM sleep can lead to states of sleep paralysis (SP), lucid dreaming (LD), out-of-body experiences (OBEs), and false awakening (FA). We know that recurrent SP is a symptom of sleep disorders like insomnia or narcolepsy. This study hypothesizes that other recurrent phenomena related to SP could also be signs of sleep deviations like insomnia and idiopathic hypersomnia (IH). The results of the study could simplify the diagnostic process for sleep disorders in adults while also improving our knowledge of the nature of REM sleep.Method. Filtered data from ‘Survey on lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences, and false awakening’ (N = 710) was used to compare sleep duration (SD) with patterns of insomnia (<6 sleep hours) and IH with long sleep (>9 sleep hours).Results. rLD was mostly prevalent among the >9 hour SD group (IH, OR 2.8) at 43.3%, in comparison to 29.1% for the <6 hour SD group and 21.1% for the control group. rOBE was most prevalent among the >9 hour SD group (IH, OR 3.0) at 32.1%, in comparison to 17.0% of the <6 hour SD group and 13.6% for the control group. rFA had no OR significance.Discussion. The results show that LD and OBE could be signs of improper SD or even indirect symptoms of sleep disorders like IH with long sleep. The results do not relate to intentional LD practice, as this requires separate research. The outcomes of this study provide an easy means of recognizing deviations in sleep, with potential applications in medicine and in improving quality of life.

Objective Many people have dreams nightly and some maintain consciousness during dreams. Such dreams are referred to as lucid dreams (LD). During dreams, our speech correlates with facial muscle activity, which is hard to decode, but LD could solve this problem. The primary hypothesis of this study was that the facial muscles electric activity during LD corresponds to specific sounds. Understanding this connection could help decode dream speech in the future. Material and Methods Under laboratory conditions, four LD practitioners were asked to say “ I love you ”, a phrase with a distinctive electromyographic (EMG) signature. They did this before falling asleep and then again after becoming conscious during a dream. Their facial and neck EMG was recorded in four areas. Results All four volunteers accomplished the goal at least once. The patterns associated with the “ I love you ” phrase were observed in most cases, both during wakefulness and LD. Specifically, the “ I ” triggered distinctive phasic activity in the submentalis area most of the time, while “ you ” did the same in the orbicularis oris . Discussion This study highlights the possibility of detecting only specific and highly EMG distinctive phrases from dreams because vocalization also involves a tong and vocal apparatus. The most interesting consequence of the present results is that they indicate the possibility of creating an artificial EMG language that could be instantly decoded in reality and used during LD.

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During lucid dreaming, people experience vivid perceptions and emotions that may have a psychophysiological impact after the person awakens. The goal of this research is to test whether it is possible to create pain during lucid dreaming and maintain it upon awakening. For this study, 151 volunteers completed a task in which they needed to achieve pain during lucid dreams (LD) and then wake up. They then checked whether the pain from the dream remained after they awoke, and, if so, they reported how long the pain lasted. Of the participants, 74% experienced pain during LD and 28% of them continued feeling the pain after waking. Our results may lead to new pain treatments and a better understanding of the nature of pain, LD, and hypnopompic hallucinations.