NCT07408206 Sleep, Dreaming, and Virtual Reality for Mental Health
| NCT ID | NCT07408206 |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Phase | EARLY_Phase 1 |
| Sponsor | Northwestern University |
| Condition | Anxiety |
| Study Type | INTERVENTIONAL |
| Enrollment | 70 participants |
| Start Date | 2026-01-15 |
| Primary Completion | 2026-10-31 |
Eligibility & Interventions
Eligibility Fast-Check
Enter your details for a quick preliminary check. This does not replace medical advice.
What to Expect as a Participant
You will actively receive the study intervention — which may be a drug, biologic, device, or procedure.
Phase 1 is the earliest stage of human testing — safety and dosage are the primary focus. Visits are frequent and medical supervision is intensive. You will be among the first people to receive this treatment.
This trial targets 70 participants in total. It began in 2026-01-15 with a primary completion date of 2026-10-31.
⚠ This information is for research awareness only. Always consult your physician before joining any clinical trial. Participation is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time.
Brief Summary
People spend approximately one-third of their lives asleep, yet sleep is often underused as an opportunity to support psychological well-being. Contemplative traditions, including Tibetan Dream Yoga, have developed practices that use waking imagination and lucid dreaming to explore perception, awareness, and habitual patterns of thinking. Recent advances in sleep monitoring, dream communication, and lucid dream induction now make it possible to study these practices using scientific methods. This study is a randomized controlled trial designed to examine the feasibility and effects of a Dream-Yoga-inspired intervention compared with an active control condition. The intervention combines waking and dreaming practices that are adapted for individuals without prior experience and delivered using virtual reality-based training and home sleep technology. The program is designed to be scalable and culturally neutral, without requiring prior knowledge of contemplative or religious traditions. The primary goals of the study are to characterize sleep and waking neurophysiology associated with Dream-Yoga-inspired practices and to evaluate whether participation is associated with changes in sleep-related brain activity and cognitive processes. Outcomes include measures of lucid dreaming, sleep physiology, and waking cognitive and perceptual processes. Anxiety will be assessed as an exploratory outcome to examine whether participation may be associated with changes in emotional experience. This study is not designed to provide treatment for anxiety or other clinical conditions. Results from this study will help inform the development of scalable sleep-based mental training approaches and guide future research on the use of dreaming and sleep practices to support psychological health and well-being.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Individuals interested in participating will be screened for eligibility through a Qualtrics survey, a Score between 5-21 points in GAD-7. Healthy, English-speaking adults (at least 18 years old) with high dream recall (at least 1/week). Exclusion Criteria: * We will exclude people who self-report any of the following: 1. history of an established meditative practice 2. psychological or psychiatric disorders (other than mild anxiety) 3. sleep disorders, nightshift work in the past month, extreme chronotype or irregular sleeping pattern 4. use of recreational drugs in the past month 5. history of asthma, seizures or heart problems 6. unwillingness to wear headband during sleep
Contact & Investigator
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can join the NCT07408206 clinical trial?
This trial is open to participants of all sexes, aged 18 Years or older, studying Anxiety. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria are listed in the Eligibility Criteria section. Always confirm your eligibility with the research team before applying.
What phase is the NCT07408206 trial and what does that mean for participants?
Phase 1 trials are the first stage of human testing. The primary goal is to assess safety and determine appropriate dosage levels. Participants are closely monitored. These trials typically involve a small number of volunteers.
Is NCT07408206 currently recruiting?
Yes, NCT07408206 is actively recruiting participants. Contact the research team at gabriela.torresplatas@northwestern.edu for enrollment information.
Where is the NCT07408206 trial being conducted?
This trial is being conducted at Evanston, United States, Charlottesville, United States.
Who is sponsoring the NCT07408206 clinical trial?
NCT07408206 is sponsored by Northwestern University. The trial plans to enroll 70 participants.
Related Trials
Related Intelligence Guides
In-depth guides covering this condition's trials, eligibility, and what to expect.