Dreams and emotions during REM sleep—real-time observation in lucid healthy volunteers
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN15894975 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15894975 |
| ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT) | Nil known |
| Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) | 2025-A01729-40 |
| Protocol serial number | Nil known |
| Sponsor | Association pour le développement et l'organisation de la recherche en pneumologie et sur le sommeil |
| Funder | Association pour le Développement et l'Organisation de la Recherche en Pneumologie et sur le Sommeil |
- Submission date
- 09/09/2025
- Registration date
- 19/12/2025
- Last edited
- 19/12/2025
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Overall study status
- Ongoing
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
This study is exploring how our emotions are processed during dreams, especially during a sleep phase called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, when dreams are most vivid and emotional. Researchers are using a special kind of dreaming called lucid dreaming, where people know they’re dreaming while still asleep. In this state, dreamers can signal how they’re feeling—happy, sad, or neutral—using facial movements like smiling or frowning. The goal is to understand how emotions change during dreams and how the body responds to them, which could help us learn more about mental health.
Who can participate?
Healthy adults aged 18 to 70 can take part, even if they’ve never had a lucid dream before. Participants must not be taking medication and must be covered by French health insurance (CPAM).
What does the study involve?
Participants will:
-Attend an initial visit to learn about the study and give consent.
-Keep a dream journal for four weeks, noting any emotions they experience in dreams.
-Visit the sleep lab on three separate mornings, where they’ll:
-Receive training to help them have lucid dreams.
-Take a monitored nap while wearing sensors that track brain activity, heart rate, breathing, and facial movements.
-Try to signal their emotions during dreams using facial expressions like smiling or frowning.
-Each nap session lasts up to 1.5 hours and finishes by 12:30 p.m.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no direct medical benefits, but participants will contribute to important research on sleep and mental health. The study is non-invasive and drug-free, with minimal risks. Some people may find the sensors or sleep lab environment slightly uncomfortable, but no serious risks are expected.
Where is the study run from?
ADOREPS – the Association for the Development and Organization of Research in Pulmonology and Sleep (France)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
September 2025 to December 2026
Who is funding the study?
ADOREPS – the Association for the Development and Organization of Research in Pulmonology and Sleep (France)
Who is the main contact?
Professor Isabelle Arnulf, isabelle.arnulf@aphp.fr
Contact information
Public, Scientific, Principal investigator
Service des pathologies du sommeil
Hôpital Pitié Salpêtrière
Paris
75013
France
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-2240-2516 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +33 1 42 16 77 03 |
| isabelle.arnulf@aphp.fr |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Single-center non-invasive physiological study |
| Secondary study design | Non randomised study |
| Scientific title | Dreams and emotions during REM sleep—real-time observation in lucid healthy volunteers |
| Study acronym | LUSPY2 |
| Study objectives | The main objective is to access the emotional valence of the dreams of healthy participants in real time, using lucid dreaming and a predefined muscle code (smiles, frowns) that allows dreamers to signal the emotion they are feeling (positive, negative, or neutral) directly from a dream as it unfolds. The secondary objectives are to: 1. Study the temporal dynamics of emotions in SP dreams 2. Analyze the order in which emotions appear during SP episodes 3. Study the physiological correlates (EEG, cardiac, respiratory, ocular) around periods of emotional coding in SP. |
| Ethics approval(s) |
Approved 14/10/2025, Comité de protection des personnes Ile de France VIII (Hôpital Ambroise Paré - 9, avenue Charles de Gaulle 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, -, France; +33 149095814; cppidf8@aphp.fr), ref: 25.03267.000340 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Dreams and emotions during REM sleep |
| Intervention | Healthy volunteers will come three mornings (Visit 2, Visit 3, and Visit 4) to the sleep clinic, where they will be fitted with a 64-channel EEG and a conventional polysomnography, as well as sensors attached to their cheeks and foreheads at the level of the zygomatic and corrugator muscles. They will receive cognitive training in lucid dreaming, then sleep for a morning nap of up to 1.5 hours, during which they will hear the visual and auditory stimuli for lucid dreaming conditioning in SP and report, if they become lucid while remaining in SP, the emotion felt (positive, negative, or neutral) directly from a dream in progress. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
Presence of naps during which the sleeper was able to complete at least one code in REM sleep reporting the emotional valence of the dream taking place measured at each visit |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
Measured at each visit |
| Completion date | 31/12/2026 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Mixed |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Upper age limit | 65 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 15 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. French speaking 2. Having a French health insurance (social security) 3. Living in Paris and its suburb 4. No sleep problem 5. Lucid dreamers are welcome |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Psychiatric and neurologic drugs 2. Any sleep problem |
| Date of first enrolment | 05/01/2026 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/04/2026 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- France
Study participating centre
87 boulevard de l'Hôpital
Paris
75013
France
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Not expected to be made available |
| IPD sharing plan |
Editorial Notes
19/12/2025: Trial's existence confirmed by Comité de protection des personnes Ile de France VIII.
