Scientists have discovered a way to induce lucid dreams in humans -- which puts the dreamer in control of the storyline.
In a study published May 11, researchers led by Ursula Voss at the J.W. Goethe University in Frankfurt explain how they managed to induce self-awareness in dreams using "frontal low current stimulation of gamma activity."
In their study, researchers put electrodes on the skulls of 27 non-lucid dreamers and zapped them with varying frequencies of electricity while they slept.
They found that current stimulation in the lower gamma band during REM sleep influences brain activity and induces self-reflective awareness in dreams -- meaning the dreamer knows he or she is dreaming and has control of the plot.
These findings might have important implications in psychiatric research.
"As a model for mental illness, understanding lucid dreaming is absolutely crucial. I would be cautious about interpreting the results as of direct relevance to the treatment of medical illnesses, but [it's] certainly a step in the direction of understanding how the brain manages to hallucinate and be deluded," professor J. Allan Hobson of Harvard Medical School, a co-author of the paper, told The Guardian.