Lucid dreaming occurs more often in long-term meditators than in people who do not meditate. Among non-meditators, lucid dream frequency is linked to the ability to put experience into words, while among meditators it is linked to observing and decentering aspects of mindfulness. However, an 8-week mindfulness course did not increase lucid dream frequency. The findings suggest a continuity between awareness during waking and sleeping states and connect meditation training with meta-awareness, but the precise nature of the link remains unclear.
Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic, can relieve symptoms in several psychiatric disorders and improve well-being, but it was unclear whether these benefits arise during the acute experience or depend on later memory of it. In 8 healthy participants, psilocybin (25 mg) was co-administered with the amnestic benzodiazepine midazolam at a dose that allowed a conscious psychedelic experience while partially impairing memory for it. Higher midazolam doses and greater memory impairment tended to associate with lower salience, insight, and well-being from psilocybin. These results suggest memory plays a role in therapeutically relevant behavioral effects of psilocybin.