Vivid morning dreams, a common phenomenon

Vivid morning dreams are dream experiences in which the person is aware that they are asleep and can, to a certain extent, have control over what they dream about. If we add the “morning” label to this definition it is for a fact. It is common to have lucid dreams just before getting up, that is, in the morning.

This in turn is related to other evidence that we have all experienced at some point. What we dream about before the alarm goes off, we remember much better. The origin of all this lies in the sleep phases themselves. It is interesting to know that We spend more time in the REM stage (rapid eye movement) just when it dawns, when it’s daylight.

In this fragment of time when the brain is incredibly active, the dream universe becomes more intense, more perceptible and vivid, but at the same time the border of awakening is close. The unconscious and the conscious world overlap, and right along that very fine line, we have a brief opportunity to guide some of our dreams as we wish.

What are lucid dreams?

Lucid dreams happen when a person is asleep, but at the same time is aware that they are dreaming. However, It is interesting to know that the first figure who defined them or spoke about them was Aristotle. It was in Aristotle’s treatises on sleep where he explained that there are times when the sleeper perceives that he is asleep, and that perception of the mind is what grants new faculties.

It is true that he did not exactly talk about the “control” of dreams, but the experience of awakening consciousness in the middle of a dream caught his attention. The fact is that this curious and striking mechanism is the one that attracts the most attention of science. Both these studies, and those carried out at the Neurological Clinic of the University of Frankfurt, point out something relevant.

During lucid dreaming, we actually activate a “hybrid” state of consciousness. This would be mediated by the frontal brain areas and is related to human metacognition. That is, with that faculty that allows us to reflect on our own mental processes, on what is happening in our mental universe.

A competence that some have more developed than others and that, it seems, would allow them to have more lucid dreams.

Why do they occur?

There is an obvious fact and that is that Most lucid dreams occur on the border of wakefulness, almost upon awakening. For this reason, we almost always talk about vivid morning dreams, because in reality it is at that moment when we usually experience them.

It was during the 60s and 70s when the electroencephalogram began to be used along with the electrooculogram, an ophthalmology instrument used to study the movement of the eye muscles. Thanks to these instruments, the relationship between the REM phase of sleep, rapid eye movements and that hybrid awakening of consciousness that gave way to lucid dreams was discovered.

Likewise, it could also be seen that sleep cycles last on average about 90 minutes. However, and here comes the interesting fact, As morning approaches, NON-REM periods shorten and REM periods lengthen.

At the end of the night and before waking up, territory of lucid dreams

New York University conducted a study in the mid-90s to delve deeper into vivid morning dreams. Something that could be clarified once again is that these appear in the REM phase and that Its appearance is more frequent at the end of the night and just before waking up in the morning.

It is at this stage when subcortical and cortical activation is experienced. and the probability of the appearance of these experiences is generated. It is a moment, a subtle border in which we dream much more, but the time comes to wake up and our conscience knows it. This will make it easier for us to either remember what we are dreaming or suddenly feel like we can control what is in that dream…

Why do some people have more lucid dreams?

Currently there is no clear data that tells us why some people experience more vivid morning dreams. It is believed that those people with greater skills in metacognition (reflecting on one’s own thinking) are more likely to experience them.

However, it has been seen that patients with apnea or anxiety also show these experiences in the REM phase. Also consuming certain drugs, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or beta beta blockers, are related to vivid dreams.

Likewise, and as a curiosity, It is common for pregnant women to have these types of dreams during your first trimester. Hormonal changes would mediate this type of situations that are always so striking and suggestive for human beings.

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