New research finds that those who spot the logical flaws of their dream-world are likely to show greater insight when awake

You’re in a lecture hall giving the talk of your life, when you suddenly become aware of the fact that you aren’t wearing any trousers.

Dr Patrick Bourke, Senior Lecturer at the Lincoln School of Psychology, says: It is believed that for dreamers to become lucid while asleep, they must see past the overwhelming reality of their dream state, and recognise that they are dreaming.The same cognitive ability was found to be demonstrated while awake by a person’s ability to think in a different way when it comes to solving problems.

Not everyone experienced lucid dreamsIn order to investigate the connection between our sleeping and waking minds, the researchers examined 68 participants between the ages of eighteen and 25, ranging from frequent lucid dreamers to those who had never experienced the awareness of being in a dream state.