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  • >> Joe: A lucid dream is a dream where the dreamer knows he is dreaming. So much so,

  • that the dreamer may in fact be able to become the architect of the dreamscape and control

  • the narrative of the dream. Think of it as a marriage between the sleeping and waking

  • minds, a kind of a middle ground where both states of consciousness interact.

  • >> Trish: Now, most people have heard of lucid dreaming, but the experience is somewhat of

  • a rare one, and scientists have been trying to figure out ways in which to trigger these

  • self-aware night visions.

  • >> Joe: Turns out that trigger is a 40 hertz, electrical zap to the noggin. Gamma activity

  • increases in the frontal cortex when we dream, and these scientists took note and zapped

  • willing participants with varying electrical doses once they entered dreamland.

  • >> Trish: Over four science filled nights of fun and experimentation, scientists tinkered

  • with 27 willing participants who were previously not lucid dreamers. Once they fell asleep,

  • their brain wave patterns were monitored, and once the gamma waves reflected the dream

  • state, the scientists stimulated the frontal cortex with 30 second bursts of electricity,

  • anywhere between 2 and 100Hz.

  • >> Joe: The volunteers were then jostled awake and asked to describe their dream experiences,

  • and what the researchers found is that 77 percent of them controlled their dreams after

  • getting hit with the 40hz spark.

  • >> Trisha: Which is amazing. But what’s interesting is that the other levels of electricity

  • didn’t elicit a dreaming response, except for 25HZ, which a much smaller number of people

  • responded tobecauseno one knows.

  • >> Joe: The brain be an amazing enigma box of confusion and electrical impulses. My favorite

  • quote from the study is from Dr. John Allan Hobson who said, "I never thought this would

  • work. But it looks like it does."

  • >> Trisha: Moving forward, this research will not only open the doors to controlling our

  • dreams, but it will also assist scientist in further understanding the human brain and

  • different states of consciousness.

  • >> Joe: Awesome. Guys, gals, have you ever experienced a lucid dream? Please describe

  • it to us in the comments below.

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