Why Do We Dream | Robert Stickgold | TEDxMarinSalon

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.
Robert Stickgold is a professor of psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. He received his B.A. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, both in biochemistry. He had post-doctoral fellowships at Stanford Medical School in neurochemistry (with Eric Shooter) and at Harvard Medical School in neurophysiology (with Stephen Kuffler).
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.

[gordonpepper]

Robert: When you say that the brain did not understand the ultimate significance of Stuarts death (5:16). Do you me that Barbara or her brain did not understand? Are you saying they are different? This is a very profound lecture and gives us much more in road into dreams than 99% of the other neuroscientists provide - well done.

[beautifullyMade]

I have come to disbelieve the science of dreams..I don't dream with events that has happened....a gruesome accident, a bloody incidents, a happy moment etc....my dreams are often ahead of time...things to happen or things happening...the same character is present in my son, he is just five, he dream in occuring events or something that is going to happen..when he retell his dream, that is the exactly thing going to happen... sometimes I am confused whether they are dreams or visions.I stop sharing my dreams because people started acting weard when my dream come true

[pamlaw]

Sorry but I have had countless premonition dreams since a child. Dreams that cannot possibly just be coincidence by the amount that I have had. 1 particular one I remember from about 20 years ago is having a dream that one of my previous ex boyfriends was standing at my gate crying, I had not seen or thought of him in YEARS. The very next day out of the blue he called me. I also remember a very recent one where I had a dream my son fell into a swimming pool and was drowning. That very next day we went to my husbands family reunion where there was a swimming pool (I had never been to this house before and did not even know there was a pool) I was very cautious of my son playing around a pool, but the next thing, while all of us were chatting and not paying attention, my nephew fell into the pool and started sinking (the kids were still very young, luckily someone had spotted him and we managed to get him out before he drowned) When I say I had had countless dreams like this I mean there have been A LOT. And its always a day or 2 later that my dream comes to fruition. Please explain that. This is where science has its limitations. its not all about science. There is far more to everything than meets the eye.

[sundancer]

You have helped to clarify the meaning of recurrent wondered what they meant. Thank you.

[loistanner]

I am researching dreams for my EPQ, and I find Robert Stickgolds videos very helpful. thank you

[charliemcc]

Several times in the video, Dr. Stickgold mentions and gives examples of both personal meaning, and purpose to be found in dreams. I believe most of us would quickly agree, and could even give their own examples to support the notion. So if the frontal lobe/cortex is shut down during REM sleep (as I also believe it must be) then exactly WHO or WHAT is then *directing* the process during the dream, so that our waking minds can then later realize the meaningful connection? Also, I had a startling premonition in a dream one night in 1975. How do we explain precognitive dreams then? Or premonitions like mine that simply can't be explained away as "mere coincidence" ?

[sajithomas]

Very useful and understandble explanation.thank you so much

[valdirsilva]

thank you very much for the video, great video!

[bassmonk]

Your dream was telling you of the karma created about hurting the animals that manifest to your son and luckily played out into a healing experience...

[spiritualawareness]

Well in those 25 years this old man didn't learn or discover anything about dreaming or memory

[dipankarmallick]

at 70 old man thinking about labour pain & he told it to beautiful woman...😂😂😂