Ever experienced a dream so real that you cannot distinguish between reality and imagination? Sometimes, people experience strange occurrences at night when the body is resting but the mind is awake. When a person feels trapped inside a dream that feels almost as real as reality during their sleep, they are experiencing what is known as lucid dreaming. While a person is lucid dreaming, they have the ability to control the dreams consciously. They also have the power to transform dreams into an alternate reality where the person is able to sense everything just as they could in real life.

A lucid dream takes place during altered states of consciousness when the person realizes that they are dreaming; the brain switches into a conscious state inside the dream. In regular dreams, people tend not remember the exact details because their self-awareness is switched off. However, during lucid dreams, the conscious brain is active while a person is asleep.

So, what exactly happens?

During lucid dreams, a person is fully aware of their dreams and that they are dreaming without coming out of the sleep state. Lucid dreams are caused by neurons in the brain that block signals from the action-generating areas in the brain to the spinal nerves and muscles, which you can read more about here.

Why does this happen?

Many studies have shown that lucid dreaming happens due to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, located in the brain that activates only during lucid dreams but is inactive during sleep. Furthermore, the activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is the reason why a person becomes conscious. Even with many studies conducted and technologies available, it is difficult to predict when exactly the brain makes a transition from an unconscious state to a conscious state during sleep.

Unlike lucid dreams, there are times when people suddenly wake up at night and feel like they have lost control over all their movement; it feels as if they are frozen, yet their minds are wide awake. This phenomenon is known as as sleep paralysis, and it is often mistaken as paranormal experiences because people are unable to move for few minutes and often experience terror and frightening images in the dark. These strange occurrences take place when the mind goes awry in sleep stages. A lucid dream takes place during altered states of consciousness in rapid eye movement (REM) stage while sleep paralysis is an irregularity that occurs when the body is not functioning smoothly through the sleep stages.

What happens during sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis occurs when sleep cycle goes out of synchronization; the mind wakes up, but the body is still asleep. During REM sleep, the muscles of the body are paralyzed to prevent a person from carrying out the actions in their respective dreams. Psychophysiological studies have confirmed that paralysis is likely to happen if the person enters REM stage by skipping stages of non-REM sleep as dreams are most vivid in REM. Sometimes the combination of awareness and dream consciousness may lead to cause frightening hallucinations and images. Sleep paralysis is a common symptom of narcolepsy, a sleep disorder where the brain’s ability to regulate a normal sleep-wake cycle becomes disrupted.

Why does it happen?

Certain chemicals in the brain such as GABA and glycine help to control motor movement during sleep. Researchers believe that sleep paralysis may occur when the transition from in and out of REM is not smooth. Because REM has the vivid dreaming ability, a person's fully active mind results in waking up while the body is still in the paralysis mode.

It is fascinating how the brain works. Have you ever experienced any of these phenomena?