All Episodes

January 25, 2024 23 mins

Dreams are both scientifically fascinating and universal. Everyone dreams, at every age and they are often nonsensical, complex, and deeply subjective. How can you quantify something so personal in the activity of cells, circuits, and systems?

Let's find out together!

Please rate, review, and subscribe and if you have any questions, comments, concerns, queries, or complaints, please email me at neuroscienceamateurhour@gmail.com or DM me at NeuroscienceAmateurHour on Instagram.

Also if you have the means/desire to financially support this podcast - please go to https://www.buymeacoffee.com/neuroscience
I really appreciate it!!!

Citations and relevant papers are below!
Chip Brown. The Stubborn Scientist Who Unraveled A Mystery of the Night. Smithsonian. Published October 2003. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-stubborn-scientist-who-unraveled-a-mystery-of-the-night-91514538/

‌Purves D, Augustine GJ, Fitzpatrick D, et al. The Possible Functions of REM Sleep and Dreaming. Nih.gov. Published 2016. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11121/

Gott JA, Liley DTJ, Hobson JA. Towards a Functional Understanding of PGO Waves. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 2017;11. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00089

‌Senzai Y, Scanziani M. A cognitive process occurring during sleep is revealed by rapid eye movements. Science. 2022;377(6609):999-1004. doi:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abp8852

Crick F, Mitchison G. The function of dream sleep. Nature. 1983;304(5922):111-114. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/304111a0

‌Hobson JA, McCarley RW. The brain as a dream state generator: an activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process. The American journal of psychiatry. 1977;134(12):1335-1348. doi:https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.134.12.1335

Caviglia G. Working on dreams, from neuroscience to psychotherapy. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome. 2021;24(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2021.540

‌Hobson, J. A. (1990). Activation, input source, and modulation: A neurocognitive model of the state of the brain-mind. In R. R. Bootzin, J. F. Kihlstrom, & D. L. Schacter (Eds.), Sleep and cognition (pp. 25–40). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10499-002

Baird B, Mota-Rolim SA, Dresler M. The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2019;100:305-323. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.03.008

Aspy DJ. Findings From the International Lucid Dream Induction Study. Frontiers in Psychology. 2020;11. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01746

‌Soffer-Dudek N. Are Lucid Dreams Good for Us? Are We Asking the Right Question? A Call for Caution in Lucid Dream Research. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2020;13. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.01423

Gao JX, Gao Y, Li XX, et al. The Ponto-Geniculo-Occipital (PGO) Waves in Dreaming: An Overview. Brain Sciences. 2023;13(9):1350-1350. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13091350



Support the show

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Ruthie's Table 4

Ruthie's Table 4

For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.