I wrote a piece about the phase and it was published by Rebecca Turner in her website (www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com). More people will be aware of the umbrella term "phase" or "phase state." Read it and enjoy:
Lucid dreaming is not the same as dreaming. It is the experiential product of a hybrid brain state in its own right. While frontal areas of the brain are highly active during wakefulness, the opposite is observed for REM sleep. Lucid dreaming (phase state) differs from both, but, like the waking state, there is high activity in the frontal areas compared to non-lucid REM sleep. The signature for the phase state is that there is an increase in 40 Hz of power - its signature as it were. The additional electrical activity in the phase state compared to ordinary dreaming enables the sleeper to recognise the truth of the situation.
Great article Summerlander, congrats! Very enjoyable and informative :-)
I have a question about "40 Hz power", I recall seeing this diagram in SOBT but did not fully understand what is meant (although the color coding makes the hybrid state obvious at least). Hz is a measure of frequency, not power, so I wondered what it meant. I thought it could be brainwave frequency, but that is more of a gamma range so it did not seem to be where the brain would likely be during a phase state... Maybe the 40 Hz is the frequency of the measuring device used to get these images?
Hi! Thank you so much for the reply! To be specific, power in the 40 Hz band is strongest in the frontal and frontolateral region when a person is in the phase state (similar to the waking state and much higher than in REM sleep). The Gamma frequency has to do with neural oscillation and may have something to do with a peak in consciousness (especially, very likely to be one of the requisites for visual awareness) when the relative brain regions are involved both in the phase as well as waking states. It is not about the measuring device.
"More recently, a study conducted at the Neurological Laboratory in Frankfurt in 2009 revealed significantly increased brain activity during lucid dreams. An EEG machine recorded frequencies in the 40 Hz (or Gamma) range in lucid dreamers enjoying some conscious REM. This is far greater than the normal dreamstate (Theta range, or 4-8 Hz) and perhaps more alert than you are right now (Beta range, or 12-38 Hz). They also saw heightened activity in the frontal and frontolateral areas of the brain which are the seat of linguistic thought as well as other higher mental functions associated with self-awareness.
From these two experiments alone we can conclude that:
We can control our dreams. Lucid dreaming offers the ability to remember waking commands and act willfully when conscious within the dream state, in this case with pre-determined eye movements.
We can achieve consciousness in dreams. Lucid dreaming produces a highly active brainwave frequency not associated with regular dreaming or even normal waking awareness, in this case up to 40 Hz."
