Lucid Dreaming: Is It the Third State of the Brain?

Have you ever had the uncanny experience of suddenly realizing “I’m dreaming” while dreaming? When this awareness dawns, you can break free from the physical constraints of reality—leap into the sky and soar freely; if trapped in a nightmare, you can even persuade yourself to wake from the fear.

This state, known as “lucid dreaming,” has long transcended the mystery of ordinary dreams, and the latest research has endowed it with a groundbreaking scientific definition: it may be a third state of consciousness, independent of wakefulness and sleep.

This astonishing discovery comes from a research team led by Çağatay Demirel at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Their findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, confirm via rigorous neuroscientific analysis that lucid dreaming is not only a unique dream experience but also corresponds to a distinct pattern of brain activity—one entirely different from wakefulness and REM sleep, a state closely associated with dreaming.

“By indicating that conscious experience can arise within sleep itself, this study opens the door to understanding lucid dreaming as a complex state of consciousness,” Demirel stated, encapsulating the core value of the research. To clarify the fundamental differences between lucid dreaming and other sleep states, the team integrated a wealth of previous research data—all utilizing EEG sensors to measure brain activity—to construct the largest database to date in the field of sleep research.

Building on this, the team compared brain activity patterns across three states (wakefulness, REM sleep, and lucid dreaming), ultimately uncovering the neuroscientific code behind lucid dreaming.

The study found that the ways in which perception and memory are processed during lucid dreaming differ distinctly from those in non-lucid REM sleep. The clear self-awareness of “I’m dreaming” is closely linked to beta waves in the right temporal lobe (which controls spatial perception and non-verbal memory) and parietal lobe (which regulates tactile sensations and self-perception).

Beta waves are a type of high-frequency electromagnetic activity in the brain, involved in conscious thought processes such as problem-solving and decision-making, and they typically dominate our consciousness when we are awake.

This may explain why lucid dreaming confers such strong cognitive control: dreamers in deep REM sleep lack control over their thoughts, emotions, or behaviors, whereas lucid dreamers possess this level of control.

In addition to beta waves, Demirel’s team also linked gamma waves to lucid dreaming. Gamma waves are the fastest brain waves, detectable on EEG readings when the brain is highly alert and focused on a task. When lucid dreaming begins, gamma wave activity increases in the right precuneus—a brain region involved in self-referential thinking, i.e., thoughts about ourselves and our lives. This mode of thinking often emerges when our minds wander during wakefulness.

Perhaps the most striking revelation of the study is that, at the brain level, lucid dreaming resembles the effects of psychedelic drugs such as LSD and ayahuasca. Such psychedelic experiences are also associated with the precuneus: activity in this region changes when individuals see waking-like imagery with their eyes closed—an experience that typically only occurs under the influence of psychedelics.

Interestingly, however, lucid dreaming may even go a step further than psychedelic drugs at the experiential level. As Demirel and his team noted in their paper: “While psychedelic drugs often lead to ego dissolution and reduced self-referential processing... lucid dreaming may actually engage elements of self-awareness and control.”

For those who can actively induce a lucid dream, it is undoubtedly an extraordinary spiritual journey. The significance of this research extends far beyond interpreting a unique experience—it redefines the boundaries of consciousness, revealing that sleep is not a “blank period” of consciousness but a realm where complex conscious states can emerge. Whether lucid dreaming can be officially defined as the third state of the brain may require further research, but it has already opened a new door to exploring the mysteries of human consciousness.