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What Are Lucid Dreams?

When Lucid Dreaming Occurs

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Lucid dreaming in an individual most often occurs during the REM stage of their sleep. In an individual who is not lucid dreaming but asleep, lateral temporal, parietal, and prefrontal cortices experience a reduction in the regional blood flow of the cerebellum. The mechanism of hypoactivity of such brain regions during an individual's REM sleep is what is thought to induce decreased volitional control and awareness while in the middle of a normal dream. This mechanism gives rise to the theory that the same reversed mechanism occurs with hyperactivity of the same brain regions during REM sleep. 

The hyperactivity of these brain regions can cause increased signaling in the precuneus, anterior prefrontal cortex, inferior temporal gyri, prefrontal cortex, bilateral inferior parietal lobule, and middle temporal gyri. This mechanism is what is thought to produce the phenomenon of lucid dreaming. Functional MRI and low-power EEG findings have given support to this theory. It is also thought that heightened functional connectivity between the temporoparietal association areas and prefrontal cortex in an individual who experiences frequent lucid dreaming is what gives them the ability to do so.

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