Flying dreams, though common, rarely occur. In a study with 137 participants, a virtual reality flying task followed by a morning nap increased reports of flying dreams during the nap and the following morning, compared to baseline rates and a control group. These dreams also showed greater lucid control and emotional intensity. Prior dream-flying experience and the level of VR sensory immersion influenced induction. The results support a vection-based explanation of dream-flying and could aid in developing dream flight-induction technologies.
The neurophysiological basis of self-awareness during sleep (lucid dreaming) is still poorly understood. Previous work suggested that transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) during sleep could increase dream self-awareness, but methodological flaws in those studies motivated a new investigation. In the current study, both tACS and a sham procedure were associated with signal-verified and self-rated lucid dreams, indicating that situational factors, rather than the stimulation itself, may be critical for inducing self-awareness during sleep.