The Huberman Lab Podcast discusses neuroscience: how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured Professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. His laboratory studies neural regeneration, neuroplasticity, and brain states such as stress, focus, fear, and optimal performance. For more than 20 years, Dr. Huberman has consistently published original research findings and review articles in top-level peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, Cell, Neuron, and Current Biology. He is a regular member of several National Institutes of Health review panels and a Fellow of the McKnight Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Dr. Huberman regularly consults for technology development companies, professional athletic organizations, and various units of U.S. and Canadian Special Operations.
Understanding and Using Dreams to Learn and to Forget | Episode 5
This episode is all about the two major kinds of dreams and the sorts of learning and unlearning they are used for. I discuss REM-associated dreams that control emotional learning and their similarity to various trauma treatments such as ketamine and EMDR. I also discuss Non-REM dreams and their role in motor learning and learning of detailed, non-emotionally-laden information. I relate this to science-backed tools for accessing more of the types of sleep and learning people may want. Other topics are listed in the time stamps below.
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For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:03:00) The Dream Mask
(00:06:00) Cycling Sleep
(00:08:10) Chemical Cocktails of Sleep
(00:13:00) Motor Learning
(00:16:30) High Performance with Less Sleep
(00:17:45) Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
(00:20:30) Paralysis & Hallucinations
(00:23:35) Nightmares
(00:24:45) When REM & Waking Collide
(00:25:00) Sleeping While Awake
(00:26:45) Alien Abductions
(00:29:00) Irritability
(00:30:00) Sleep to Delete
(00:32:25) Creating Meaning
(00:34:10) Adults Acting Like Children
(00:36:20) Trauma & REM
(00:37:15) EMDR
(00:39:10) Demo
(00:44:25) Ketamine / PCP
(00:45:45) Soup, Explosions, & NMDA
(00:48:55) Self Therapy
(00:50:30) Note About Hormones
(00:51:40) Measuring REM / SWS
(00:53:15) Sleep Consistency
(00:56:00) Bed Wetting
(00:58:00) Serotonin
(00:59:00) Increasing SWS
(00:59:50) Lucidity
(01:02:15) Booze / Weed
(01:03:50) Scripting Dreams
(01:04:35) Theory of Mind
(01:07:55) Synthesis
(01:10:00) Intermittent Sleep Deprivation
(01:11:10) Snoring Disclaimer
(01:11:40) New Topic
(01:15:50) Corrections
(01:17:25) Closing Remarks
As always, thank you for your interest in science!
Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac