Sleep is Magical

An exciting collaboration with Dr Els van der Helm on this special election-season virtual masterclass on what we know about the impact of elections on sleep, mood, and markers of emotional well-being.

In addition to hearing about what we learned from the 2020 election, you'll get some strategies on how to potentially deal with election stress in the future. Our work in this area continues as we collected data for comparison during the 2024 election, and have our sights set on more in this area down the road!

As part of a Harvard University social media challenge, Tony has his knowledge tested for GenZ slang terms. See how well he held up!

Dr. Cunningham’s invited lecture for the Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine Sleep Grand Rounds titled, “Sleep and Emotional Memory Research: Moving Forward in Uncertainty”

Find more information on the HMS Division of Sleep Medicine.

See other Sleep Grand Round recordings.

Sleep feels good but most think it a waste of time. Recent research shows quite the opposite: sleep is essential for bodily health and mental well-being, affecting the immune system, providing brain maintenance, enabling memory formation, and more. As Dr. Stickgold details in this short video, sleep, like eating, is essential for life.

Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

Dr. Robert Stickgold is a world-renowned expert in dream research. He co-authored the book, When Brains Dream, in addition to publishing many academic articles in scientific journals, including EMDR: A Putative Neurobiological Mechanism of Action. In the video below you will learn about what happens when brains dream, the neurobiological mechanisms that happen in the brain during REM sleep, what (we think) happens in the brain during EMDR therapy, and a lot more.

Topics discussed in this video:

0:00 Introduction

03:11- Why we dream

04:46 - The function of dreams

06:25 - The history of dreams

08:42 - REM sleep and dream sleep

11:25 - Neurochemical brain mechanisms during sleep

19:50 - How sleep improves mood

23:05 - Different dreams during different sleep stages

24:50 - The Default Mode Network (DMN)

35:09 - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

40:10 - EMDR mechanisms of action

Resources:

Bob’s Book: When Brains Dream

We all wish for better memories. But how are memories stored? For all our neuroscience, we still do not know even the level in the brain where memories are stored—from inside neurons to long brain circuits. We do know that the synapses between neurons in the brain are critical, but how those chemical changes mean a specific memory remains a mystery. Learn more from Dr. Stickgold on what we know and where we need to go.

Robert Stickgold is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He graduated from Harvard University before receiving his doctorate in biochemistry from University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

In episode #220, neuroscientists and sleep/dream experts Antonio Zadra (University of Montreal) and Robert Stickgold (Harvard University) join Trey Elling for a second time to discuss WHEN BRAINS DREAM: UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENCE AND MYSTERY OF OUR DREAMING MINDS. The book is now available in paperback.

The New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC) hosted another webinar led by Tony Cunningham, Ph.D., a postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Boston College as he expanded upon his previous webinar discussion on the importance of sleep during the pandemic. In this presentation, Dr. Cunningham discussed some of the findings from sleep research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, including results from his Boston College COVID-19 Sleep and Well-Being study.

If consciousness is 100% physical, we would have to conclude that the same kind of consciousness that we experience as humans can be generated by non-biological entities (eventually). Conversely, if non-biological consciousness would somehow, someday, prove impossible, then consciousness would have to embed some nonphysical aspect. But how would we ever know? Learn more from Dr. Stickgold.

Robert Stickgold is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He graduated from Harvard University before receiving his doctorate in biochemistry from University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

From Robert Stickgold Ph.D. Professor and Director of the Harvard Center for Sleep and Cognition and Co-Author of "When Brains Dream", we learn what dreams are, where they come from, what they mean, and what purpose they may serve.

Dr. Stickgold is a professor of psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. He has published two science fiction novels, and over 100 scientific publications, including papers in Science, Nature, and Nature Neuroscience. His work has been written up in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, and Seed Magazine, and he has given invited talks around the world, including Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, and The Netherlands. He has been a guest on PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and NPR’s Science Friday with Ira Flato several times, extolling the importance of sleep. He has spoken at the Boston Museum of Science, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and NEMO, the Amsterdam museum of science.

His current work looks at the nature and function of sleep and dreams from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, with an emphasis on the role of sleep and dreams in memory consolidation and integration. He has been a pioneer in establishing the importance of sleep in offline memory processing, and has identified a range of memory types enhanced by sleep. In addition to studying the normal functioning of sleep, he is currently investigating alterations in sleep-dependent memory consolidation in patients with schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, and PTSD. His work is currently funded by NIMH. He is coauthor, with Antonio Zadra, of the new book When Brains Dream. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Nick talks to Dr. Robert Stickgold, a cognitive neuroscientist and sleep expert. Dr. Stickgold is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and has been studying sleep, dreams, and memory for over 25 years.

In this episode of the Mind & Matter Podcast, they discuss a variety of sleep topics, included sleep architecture and why there are different stages of sleep; the relationship between sleep stages and memory; how different drugs and disease states relate to sleep; how sleep differs as we develop and between species. Dr. Stickgold also shares various sleep-related health tips, including why it's important to get adequate sleep when you get vaccinated.

Nick is a neuroscientist and podcast host. He is currently Director of Science & Innovation at Leafly, the world's largest cannabis information resource. He received a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University and a B.S. in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

0:00:00 Intro

0:00:58 What the Brain Does When Asleep

0:05:31 Different Sleep Stages

0:10:50 The Importance of Forgetting

0:17:47 Experience Replay During Sleep

0:21:54 Dreaming

0:37:00 Depriving People of NREM vs. REM Sleep

0:42:58 How Much Sleep Do You Need?

0:52:20 Alcohol & Caffeine

0:55:27 How Sleep Changes As We Age

1:06:07 When Did Sleep Evolve?

1:09:12 Sleep Effects On Body & Metabolism

1:19:55 Lucid Dreaming

1:27:31 Sleeping Pills

1:29:46 Can Corporations Manipulate Your Dreams?

1:34:11 PTSD & Sleep

1:39:56 Final Thoughts

Robert Stickgold talks dreams: why we dream, the neuroscience behind dreams, and what dreams mean.

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.

Watch more Closer To Truth interviews with Robert Stickgold.

Closer to Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

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

Watch more Closer To Truth interviews with Robert Stickgold

Closer to Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

Robert Stickgold in conversation with co-author Antonio Zadra

Why do we dream? Do dreams hold psychological meaning or are they merely the reflection of random brain activity? What purpose do dreams serve?

When Brains Dream addresses these core questions about dreams while illuminating the most up-to-date science in the field. Written by two world-renowned sleep and dream researchers, it debunks common myths that we only dream in REM sleep, for example—while acknowledging the mysteries that persist around both the science and experience of dreaming.

Antonio Zadra and Robert Stickgold bring together state-of-the-art neuroscientific ideas and findings to propose a new and innovative model of dream function called NEXTUP―Network Exploration to Understand Possibilities. By detailing this model’s workings, they help readers understand key features of several types of dreams, from prophetic dreams to nightmares and lucid dreams. When Brains Dream reveals recent discoveries about the sleeping brain and the many ways in which dreams are psychologically, and neurologically, meaningful experiences; explores a host of dream-related disorders; and explains how dreams can facilitate creativity and be a source of personal insight.

Robert Stickgold is a professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Center for Sleep and Cognition. His writing has appeared in Scientific American and Newsweek.

Antonio Zadra is a sleep and dream scientist at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur's Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine and professor of psychology at the Université de Montréal. In addition to numerous publications on sleep, dreams, and dream-related disorders, Dr. Zadra is the co-author of When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep.

The New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC) hosted a webinar led by Tony Cunningham, Ph.D., a postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Boston College. This webinar highlighted the importance of prioritizing sleep to help combat the spread of COVID19, the role of sleep in helping to maintain mental and physical health under current social restrictions, and the logistics of continuing sleep research during a pandemic.

Dr. Robert Stickgold discusses how sleep plays a role in memory, both before and after a new learning situation

Death is the ultimate defeat. No matter how many successes we have, we are all doomed to suffer the final failure. But some claim that death is not final. How can they do so?

Hear more about the science of sleep from Dr. Stickgold. Topics covered in this discussion include:

1:04 What is sleep for?

9:27 Why do we dream?

15:58 How dreaming helps us remember

20:57 Chaotic dreams and creativity

26:32 The limited value of dream interpretation

46:21 Lack of sleep and psychological disorders

50:58 How to sleep better

Dr. Tony Cunningham’s presentation as a grad student finalist for the first ever 3 Minute Thesis competition at the University of Notre Dame. In this talk, Dr. Cunningham had 3 minutes to briefly describe his early research related to the relationship between sleep and emotional memory processing.

Why do we spend so much of our lives not awake? Learn about the vital function that sleep plays in our lives in this brief conversation with Dr. Stickgold.

How well do you remember your dreams? Have you ever had a dream about something you were doing earlier in the day—especially if you were doing it when you nodded off? If you’re a sleep researcher, like Harvard psychiatrist Robert Stickgold, who wants to induce a specific dream in your patients, Tetris is apparently the way to go. He had subjects play the popular video game before going to sleep, and then had them record their dreams when they woke up. What was really interesting though, is what happened when he conducted the same experiment on amnesiacs.

The World Science Festival gathers great minds in science and the arts to produce live and digital content that allows a broad general audience to engage with scientific discoveries. Our mission is to cultivate a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.

In the 2014 classic, Dr. Stickgold describes the contemporary theories and details the latest investigations into understanding the relationships between sleep, dreams, and memory. This talk was given as part of the A Lee and Nile Albright Annual Symposium at the Museum of Science in Boston.

Robert Stickgold, Harvard Professor and Director of the Sleep and Cognition Laboratory, speaks at the 2014 Vail Living Well Forum for Optimum Health. Robert discusses how sleep is a functional necessity to living a happy and healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Stickgold studies the role of sleep and dreaming in learning and memory processes. He has studied how dreams change in response to mental challenges, ranging from computer games to living in a zero gravity environment on the International Space Station.