Effectiveness of motor practice in lucid dreams: a comparison with physical and mental practice

Rehearsing a finger-tapping sequence during a lucid dream improves next-morning performance as much as physical or mental practice while awake. In an online experiment with 68 participants split into four groups, those who practiced in a lucid dream, physically, or mentally all significantly improved from evening pre-test to morning post-test, while the no-practice control group did not. Subjective sleep quality was unaffected by nighttime practice. The results confirm earlier work showing that motor practice in lucid dreams can enhance subsequent performance, with effects comparable to waking practice.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Motor practice in lucid dreams is a form of mental rehearsal where the dreamer can consciously rehearse motor skills in the dream state while being physically asleep. A previous pilot study showed that practice in lucid dreams can improve subsequent performance. This study aimed to replicate those findings with a different task (finger-tapping) and compare the effectiveness of lucid dream practice (LDP) not only to physical but also to mental practice (MP) in wakefulness. An online experiment was completed by 68 participants within four groups: LDP group, MP group, physical practice (PP) group and control (no practice) group. Pre-test was accomplished in the evening, post-test in the next morning, while the practice was done during the night. All three practice groups significantly improved their performance from pre-test to post-test, but no significant improvements were observed for the control group. Subjective sleep quality was not affected by night practice. This study thus corroborates the previous findings that practice in lucid dreams is effective in improving performance. Its effects seem to be similar to actual PP and MP in wakefulness. Future studies should establish reliable techniques for lucid dream induction and verify the effects of LDP in sleep laboratory conditions.