New State of Consciousness Unlocked by Researchers, Where The Brain Goes Into a ‘Hybrid’ State
Dreaming for many is an escape from reality. However, not all dreams feel the same. Researchers have found that in some dreams, there is more control than in others. Based on this observation, a new state of consciousness has been determined by a team of experts, stated Popular Mechanics. Insights on this new state have been explained in detail in the Journal of Neuroscience.
This new state has been labelled Lucid Dreaming by experts. This state is distinct from wakefulness and REM sleep, the state typically associated with dreams. Researchers have found that the dreams generated in Lucid Dreaming are a bit distinct from REM sleep. There is a certain consciousness present during lucid dreams. This implies that the individual is aware of the fact that he is dreaming. This consciousness helps the person in waking up from a nightmare and also gives them the means to change the trajectory of their dreams. People can control their dreams in this state, implying they can facilitate events, as per their wish, in their dreams, like flying.
Researchers further noted that the state had a unique neural signature, according to DeBrief. Experts took into consideration the neuroimaging data available from different laboratories and concluded that specific communication needed to happen between certain brain regions for this state to activate. The details garnered were adjudged to be the most expansive dataset regarding this topic. The study further claimed that during this state, brain areas linked with cognitive control, self-awareness, and memory processing showed more activity, compared to when humans were in the REM sleep state.
The results indicate that during lucid dreams, the brain enters a hybrid state. In this state, the immersive dream phenomenon coexists with reflective awareness. The findings challenge past assertions suggesting that consciousness completely vanishes during dreaming. On the contrary, the brain appears to support many kinds of consciousness.
The consciousness that facilitates during Lucid dreaming was found to be associated with beta waves in the right central lobe and parietal lobe, according to Popular Mechanics. The former controls spatial awareness and nonverbal memory, while the latter monitors the sense of touch. Beta waves are the electromagnetic waves that are active during the state of wakefulness and aid in decision-making. These observations shed light on brain activity that allows humans to have control in their lucid dreams.
The dream side of things is reflected by the elevation of gamma waves in the right precuneus. These waves act up in the brain when humans indulge in self-referential thinking. Often, when an individual's mind wanders off and they think about themselves and their life, gamma waves are at play. The most stunning observation, though, was that the brain's condition during lucid dreaming is similar to what happens after the effects of psychedelic drugs such as LSD and ayahuasca.
These findings have huge implications in the pursuit of decoding dream-based commands, stated Debrief. Certain organizations want to establish communication with dreamers and achieve more control over this state. More clarity on how the human brain behaves while sleeping will aid experts in achieving this feat.