WSJournal. Why Children Have More Control of Their Dreams
Lucid dreams in which the sleeper is aware of being in a dream are most common in young children, who are often able to change the dream plot to end a nightmare, a report in the Journal of Sleep Research says.
Previous research showed part of the brain appears to be asleep during a lucid dream, while other parts function at almost a waking state, so a dreaming person senses they are watching the dream from the outside.
Researchers found the frequency of lucid dreaming, when the sleeper is aware of being in a dream, was highest in young children.
To learn more about lucid dreaming, the same research team interviewed 694 students from schools in Bonn, Germany, including 72 children in primary grades one through four and 622 from three types of secondary school. Students were asked how often they recalled their dreams, whether they noticed a dream wasn't real while it continued, and the age of their first lucid dream. They were also asked if they felt they could change or control what happens in a dream.
Lucid dreaming was reported by 58% of 6-year-olds, which surprised researchers. The frequency of lucid dreaming declined steadily until age 16, when it dropped sharply. About 18% of 16-year-olds reported frequent lucid dreaming compared with 7.1% of 19-year-olds, the study found. Frequent lucidity was more prevalent in higher academic achievers, suggesting it may be linked to cognitive development, researchers said. Dream recall was significantly higher in girls than boys of all ages.
Of the lucid dreamers, 37% said they were able to change events in the dream, which often involved violence or aggression, the study found. Plot control was higher in younger children and declined with age.
Lucid dreaming is an exceptional mental state that occurs naturally in developing brains and may help some children to control their emotions and build self-confidence, researchers said.
Caveats: Dreams and lucidity were self-reported by students. Students were eliminated from the study if they answered yes to two questions designed to show whether they were susceptible to suggestion. The number and abilities of subjects in the three secondary school types varied widely.
