Lucid Dreaming and Multimedia

Jayne Gackenbach: Dream Writer and Researcher/ Former president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams


Gackenbach claims that there is a strong connection between video game play and lucid dreaming. She believes that, because video games increase absorption, reaction times, attention span, and spatial and problem solving skills, it enhances your sense of being within a virtual reality that is mimicked in lucid dreaming. In 2009, Gackenbach published evidence that links lucid dreaming to all forms of multimedia. She found that, through our advancements in technology, we have developed a much greater self-awareness. Her research suggests that because our society, driven by media, encourages these consciousnesses, we are innately developing our skills of lucidity. 


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Dreams and Psychosis

Scientists have discovered a link between lucid dreaming and psychosis. Because lucid dreaming creates distinctive electrical activity patterns within the brain that are similar to those made by conditions such as schizophrenia, dream therapy may be useful in psychiatric treatments. Dissociation, or the loss of conscious control over mental processes, is involved in both dreaming and some psychotic conditions. Just as lucid dreaming can be used to prevent nightmares, scientists believe that this training could also be used in psychiatric therapy. The research field for both psychiatry and dreams may go hand in hand in an attempt to explore interpretations and to cure psychiatric conditions. 

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