Partial memory reinstatement while (lucid) dreaming to change the dream environment

Abstract

Lucid dreams often coincide with having control over dream events in real-time, although the limitations of dream control are not completely understood. The current study probed the ability of lucid dreamers to reinstate waking scene memories while dreaming. After brief exposure to an experimental scene, participants were asked to reinstate the scene while lucid dreaming (i.e., change dream scenery to match real-world scene). Qualitative analysis revealed that successful dream scene reinstatements were overwhelmingly inaccurate with respect to the original experimental scene. Importantly, reinstatement inaccuracies held even when the dreamer was aware of them during the dream, suggesting a dissociation between memory access while dreaming and dream imagery. The ability to change the environment of a dream speaks to the high amount of lucid dream control, yet the inaccuracies speak to a lack of detailed control. Reinstating context during lucid sleep offers an experimental method to investigate sleep, dreams, and memory.

Dreaming of the sleep lab

“…The analysis further provides evidence that although dreaming frequently reactivates these elements, it does not replay them in their episodic entirety. In fact, episodic reconstructions in dreams are almost always incomplete [ 60 ]. One view of the ‘incompleteness’ of episodic replays is that dreaming operates beyond the episodic memory system, ‘breaking down’ waking memories and recombining them into novel dream scenarios [ 61 ].…”

Exploring the range of reported dream lucidity

“…The likely reason for this method's broad popularity and appeal is that it doesn't incur any modification to typical sleep habits, which is a concern for other induction methods (Soffer-Dudek, 2020;Vallat & Ruby, 2019). The proposal behind the efficacy of reality checks is rooted in the continuity hypothesis of dreams, which states that we dream about themes from our waking life (Schredl & Hofmann, 2003), even if not specific episodic re-play (Fosse et al, 2003;Malinowski & Horton, 2014;Mallett, 2020). If one asks oneself if one is dreaming throughout the day, then the theory of reality checks proposes that one will also ask oneself while one is dreaming, and ideally come to the correct conclusion that indeed, one is.…”

“…Our results suggest that increased lucidity leads to increased morning affect, which might be another potential clinical benefit to lucid dreaming beyond the strict control of nightmares. Recent work suggests that characteristics of the dream state carry over into wakefulness (Lee & Kuiken, 2015;Sikka et al, 2018), and lucid dreams contain more positive emotions than non-lucid dreams (Mallett, 2020;Stocks et al, 2020;Voss et al, 2013). Thus, the positivity of lucid dreams carrying over into the waking state might offer a reason for why lucid dreams without control could benefit nightmare sufferers (see also Stocks et al, 2020).…”

The role of attention and intention in dreams

“…In addition to variations in degree of awareness within the dream, lucid dreamers have variation in degree of control over the dream environment, which seems to rely on attentional control. In one recent study (Mallett, 2020), participants were invited to the laboratory and asked to study an experimental room that contained a variety of objects and were then asked to attempt to recreate this scene while in a lucid dream. Several lucid dreamers were able to call to mind and accurately remember elements of the experimental scene while in the dream, but they experienced varying degrees of success when attempting to transmute remembered objects into forms in the dream-world.…”