Placebo without deception: Psychoactive drug intake in lucid dreaming and its effect upon awakening

Objective. People experience lucid dreaming (LD) with different emotions and perceptions that can have psychophysiological consequences upon waking. To study the placebo without a deception effect, we tested how psychoactive drug intake during LDs affects perceptions in dreams and after waking.Method. Through two online experiments, we instructed volunteers to consume alcohol (N = 104) and psychoactive substances (N = 86) while in an LD and then wake up to assess the results. Results. For both groups, 58% of the volunteers felt an effect of psychoactive drugs while in an LD, and 21% were able to transfer these effects into wakefulness, at least partially. Psychoactive substances were more likely to maintain their effect upon awakening than alcohol (p = .002).Discussion. The results show that the sensory and emotional neurons responsible for perceptions of alcohol and drug intake can fire independently from physiology. The transfer of these effects to wakefulness could be possible due to hypnopompic hallucination. Probably, the type of alcohol or drug consumed, as well as the intake method, were important factors . The outcomes of our study contribute to the overall understanding of the psychophysiological correlations between LD and wakefulness and its possible applications in health treatments.