Episode 31: The Neuroscience of Dreams

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!

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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

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