Robert Stickgold discusses why we dream, the stages and purpose of sleep, the neuroscience of dreams, and his new book, When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep.

Robert Stickgold is a professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. A sleep researcher, his work focuses on the relationship between sleep and learning. His articles in the popular press are intended to illustrate the dangers of sleep deprivation.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:45 When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep

01:45 The stages of sleep

06:43 Physiological affects of sleep

16:27 Alzheimer's Disease and sleep

18:25 Sleep deprivation and death

19:38 History of understanding dreams

26:55 The content of dreams / What do dreams mean?

30:16 Robert Kuhn's weird dream...

41:32 The NEXT UP Theory on the purpose of dreams

50:45 Surprising result of Robert Stickgold's dream study

55:45 Dreams Lightning Round - Bizarre Dreams

56:22 Dreams Lightning Round - Nightmares

56:40 Dreams Lightning Round - Do Children Dream?

56:58 Dreams Lightning Round - Do Animals Dream?

57:06 Dreams Lightning Round - Lucid Dreams

58:16 Dreams Lightning Round - Dreams and LSD

1:01:08 Dreams Lightning Round - Clinical Use of Dreams

1:01:44 Dreams Lightning Round - Precog, ESP, and Dreams

1:03:14 Insight and inspiration from dreams

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