Lucid Dreaming in Narcolepsy
SLEEP February 27, 2015 Pauline Dodet, Mario Chávez, Smaranda Leu‐semenescu et al. 115 citations
People with narcolepsy are far more likely to experience lucid dreaming—being aware that they are dreaming while still asleep—than healthy individuals. In a case-control study, 77.4% of 53 narcolepsy patients reported having lucid dreams, compared to 49.1% of 53 controls, averaging 7.6 lucid dreams per month versus 0.3. During monitored naps, 7 of 12 narcoleptic frequent lucid dreamers (but none of 5 controls) successfully signaled from a lucid REM sleep state. Brain wave analysis showed lower delta, theta, and alpha power and reduced frontal coherence during lucid versus non-lucid REM sleep, along with longer REM duration. The findings suggest narcolepsy provides a useful model for studying lucid dreaming.