In what stage of sleep do lucid dreams occur?
Lucid dreams usually happen during REM sleep. Sleep is not a uniform state, but is characterized by a series of stages (1, 2, 3, and 4, and REM) distinguished by certain physiological markers. REM sleep, stands for “Rapid Eye Movement” sleep, and is pronounced to rhyme with “them”, not “R. E. M.” Stages 1 through 4 are often lumped together under the label non-REM (NREM) sleep. Stages 3 and 4 are both referred to as “delta” sleep, for the large, low frequency brain waves evident in these stages. Although this is certainly a gross oversimplification of the complexity of the physiological and mental events in sleep, research has demonstrated that most vivid dreaming occurs in REM sleep. It is characterized by an active brain, with low amplitude mixed frequency brain waves, suppression of skeletal muscle tone, bursts of rapid eye movements, and occasional tiny muscular twitches. The sleep stages cycle throughout a night. The first REM period normally happens after a period of delta sleep,
