Internally generated conscious activity: ​Reflections upon (lucid) dreaming, mind-wandering and meditation

Certain conscious states such as dreaming reveal that conscious activity can be to a large extent internally generated rather than being driven by sensory stimuli. In this interview, psychologist and neuroscientist Benjamin Baird discusses the developments of scientific research on these conscious phenomena including dreaming, mind-wandering and meditation and how they interrelate. Lucid dreaming, the ability to become aware that one is dreaming while in a dream, is highlighted as a unique way to gain experimental control over internally generated conscious activity during sleep.