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Have you ever wanted to fly? A drug that helps people control their dreams could let you try it from the comfort of your own bed.

A small number of people naturally have lucid dreams, meaning they can recognise when they鈥檙e dreaming and steer the storyline they experience. Some others can learn to induce them using cognitive techniques.

The practice is most commonly used to pursue fantasies like flying, but it may also help to overcome fears and nightmares, says at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. However, its therapeutic potential has been limited by the fact that it鈥檚 often hard to achieve.

Now, Baird and his colleagues have developed the most effective method yet for promoting lucid dreams, by combining cognitive training with a drug called galantamine that is typically used to slow Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

Follow the signs

The researchers taught 121 adults aged 19 to 75 a cognitive technique for stimulating lucid dreams called mnemonic induction of lucid dreams. It involves picking a feature of a previous dream called a 鈥渄reamsign鈥� that can serve as a reminder to become lucid when encountered again.

After learning this technique, the volunteers were given capsules of galantamine, a treatment for mild to moderate Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. This drug boosts the brain chemical acetylcholine, which boosts memory, but also promotes rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the phase in which dreams are most common. 鈥淛ust as it might remind you to pick up milk on your way home, it might remind you to become lucid when you see your dreamsign,鈥� says Baird.

Each person was given a high-dose capsule, a low-dose capsule, and a placebo capsule, but they couldn鈥檛 tell which was which. On three occasions, they woke in the middle of the night, took a capsule, visualised their dreamsign, and went back to sleep.

The high dose of galantamine was most effective, inducing lucid dreams in 42 per cent of participants. About 27 and 14 per cent reported lucid dreams after taking the low dose and placebo, respectively.

Every experience imaginable

The galantamine-induced dreams varied widely. One participant became lucid while dreaming about falling donkeys, and actively flew out of their way. Another fulfilled her fantasy of rollerblading through a shopping centre after realising she was in a dream. The lucid dreams were rated as being more vivid, complex and emotionally positive than regular dreams.

Common side effects of galantamine in people with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease include stomach upsets, sleep problems and tiredness. In the dreaming study, 4 per cent of participants who took galantamine reported nausea, 6 per cent experienced insomnia and 2 per cent felt fatigued.

Baird has experimented with galantamine himself. One time he took it, he dreamed about being in an unfamiliar house. As he inspected different objects, he was astonished at how real they felt. 鈥淎s I ran my hand along a brick wall, for example, I could feel the coarse texture and the outline of individual bricks,鈥� he says.

He was also able to bring a dead flower back to life using the power of his mind. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like going into the holodeck in Star Trek where you can have any imaginable experience you choose,鈥� he says.

Consciousness clue

Baird鈥檚 team is now investigating what lucid dreams tell us about consciousness. For example, he is comparing brainwave patterns of people during regular REM sleep 鈥� who are not self-aware 鈥� with those experiencing lucid REM sleep 鈥� who are self-aware. This may reveal the brain areas or brain activity that make us aware of our own consciousness, he says.

The potential therapeutic applications are also exciting, says at the University of Adelaide in Australia. 鈥淭his new method finally has the success rate we need to be able to properly do research on lucid dreaming,鈥� he says.

Small studies have already shown that lucid dreaming can be used to treat nightmares, Aspy says. 鈥淚f you know you鈥檙e having a nightmare it automatically becomes less distressing because you know it鈥檚 not real,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut more than that, you might be able to escape the situation, fly away, confront the threat, or even just make yourself wake up.鈥�

Galantamine-induced lucid dreaming might also be useful for helping people to face their fears of spiders, heights or other things in safe dream environments that they know they can control, Aspy says.

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