In a lucid dream, you know you are dreaming. In the late 1970s, researchers showed lucid dreamers could signal from inside a dream using agreed eye movements. In 2021, teams in four countries asked dreamers maths questions, and some answered correctly with their eyes.
Truth label: Established. Strong evidence and broad agreement among experts.
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Proof from the lab
Eye movements are one of the few muscles free during REM sleep, so they became a window into the dream.
Learnable
Many people can learn to have lucid dreams with practice, like checking reality during the day.
Learn
- A simple technique. Ask yourself 'am I dreaming?' several times a day. The habit can carry over into dreams.
Test yourself
How did dreamers answer questions in the 2021 study?
With eye movements. They used agreed eye signals while still asleep.
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