Alternating current can stimulate humans’ dream consciousness
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027948
Ars Technica : In humans, lucid dreaming involves elevated electrical activity in an area of the brain not usually used during REM sleep. To see whether stimulating that electrical activity can alter a dreamer’s self-reflective awareness, researchers applied transcranial alternating current stimulation to subjects while they were sleeping and monitored their brain activity. Then the subjects were woken and interviewed about their dreams. The researchers found that stimulation of 25 Hz and 40 Hz increased activity in the brain’s lower gamma frequency band, which resulted in, among other aspects of lucid dreaming, an increased awareness on the part of the dreamer that he or she was dreaming. The reason may be that an increase in lower gamma band power enhances neuronal synchronization, which can lead to conscious awareness.