Breakthrough research discovers doing this one thing when sleeping could unlock an entirely new state of consciousness

A new study has revealed that one part of sleep has even more 'unique shifts' compared to others than first anticipated.

There are five stages of sleep - wake, N1, N2, N3, and rapid eye movement (REM).

N1 and N2 relate to light sleeping, N3 is deep sleep and REM is where you experience vivid dreaming.

Lucid dreaming (LD) - where the dreamer becomes aware they're dreaming while still actually being asleep - primarily occurs in the REM stage.

Scientists have long been intrigued by what truly happens during this lucid stage.

A new study has become the largest dataset of its kind to identify distinct brain activity patterns which show just how different lucid dreaming is compared to REM and being awake - and how.

The study into how lucid dreaming differs from REM and being awake

The study - titled Electrophysiological correlates of lucid dreaming: sensor and source level signatures, published in the Journal of Neuroscience - explains the ins and outs of lucid dreaming and how it works in seeing the sleeper thrust into a deep sleep with vivid dreams, but also manages to make them conscious enough to recognize they're in a dream while still asleep, remains 'elusive'.

Why? Well, recreating such a scenario is 'very rare and difficult to reproduce in the laboratory'.

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However, the study decided to dive further in anyway and give it a go, looking at the electrical properties of biological cells and tissues in the brain and seeing how they correlate with a period of lucid dreaming compared to what they're like when a person is in the REM stage of sleep or awake.

Ever find yourself aware you're dreaming but you're still asleep? (Getty Stock Image)

What the study has revealed about the details of lucid dreaming

For those who understand science, by analyzing these properties, the study found: "Sensor-level differences between LD and non-lucid REM sleep were minimal, mixed-frequency analysis revealed broad low-alpha to gamma power reductions during LD compared to wakefulness.

"Source-level analyses showed significant beta power (12-30 Hz) reductions in right central and parietal areas, including the temporo-parietal junction, during LD.

"Moreover, functional connectivity in the alpha band (8-12 Hz) increased during LD compared to non-lucid REM sleep. During initial LD eye signaling compared to baseline, source-level gamma1 power (30-36 Hz) increased in right temporo-occipital regions, including the right precuneus.

"Finally, functional connectivity analysis revealed increased inter-hemispheric and inter-regional gamma1 connectivity during LD, reflecting widespread network engagement."

And for the majority of us who don't, basically, the study revealed lucid dreaming shows 'distinct' different patterns compared to REM sleep and being awake, Neuroscience News reports.

It shows during REM, the part of your brain 'linked to cognitive control and self-perception are more active'.

And the study supports the idea that you can be conscious during sleep without waking.

The study suggests you can be conscious in dreams without waking (Getty Stock Image)

What the future has in store

Lead author of the study Çağatay Demirel, from Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Medical Center, resolved: "This research opens the door to a deeper understanding of lucid dreaming as an intricate state of consciousness by pointing to the possibility that conscious experience can arise from within sleep itself.

"This work offers a perspective that could challenge the traditional binary view of sleep and wakefulness in future research."