Understand and Use Dreams to Learn and Forget | Huberman Lab Essentials

Andrew Huberman

Dec 12, 2024

Episode description

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I explain the important role that sleep and dreams have in learning, regulating emotions, and recovering from trauma.

I discuss how dreams during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep contribute to emotional learning and the processing of traumatic experiences. I also discuss the similarities of REM dreams to clinical treatments like ketamine and EMDR therapy. I explain how non-REM dreams function differently to support other types of learning. Additionally, I describe science-backed strategies to optimize both types of sleep for improved learning, mood and emotional regulation.

Episode show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/oHpVh5A

Huberman Lab Essentials are short episodes focused on essential science and protocol takeaways from past full-length Huberman Lab episodes. Watch The full-length episode: https://youtu.be/FFwA0QFmpQ4

Watch more Huberman Lab Essentials episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPNW_gerXa4OGNy1yE-W9IX-tPu-tJa7S

*Timestamps*
00:00:00 Huberman Lab Essentials; Dreaming, Learning & Un-Learning
00:01:04 Types of Sleep
00:02:57 Slow-Wave Sleep, Motor Learning
00:06:54 Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep, Paralysis, Unlearning of Emotional Events
00:11:21 Lack of REM Sleep, Emotionality
00:13:54 REM Sleep, Learning & Meaning
00:17:46 EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) Therapy, Trauma
00:24:25 Ketamine Therapy, PCP, Trauma
00:27:30 REM Sleep as Therapy, Emotions
00:29:47 Tool: Improve Slow-Wave & REM Sleep
00:33:12 Recap & Key Takeaways

Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

Episode description

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Utilize REM sleep for self-induced therapy

REM sleep acts as self-induced therapy by allowing you to re-experience events without the brain chemical for fear and anxiety, epinephrine.

#REM

#therapy

Lift weights to enhance slow-wave sleep

Engaging in resistance exercise is one of the most powerful ways to increase the percentage of your slow-wave sleep.

#exercise

#sleep

Utilize trauma therapy to mimic REM sleep for emotional healing

Trauma treatments like EMDR and Ketamine therapy work by mimicking REM sleep's ability to suppress fear and dissociate emotion from experience.

#sleep

#trauma

Prioritize slow-wave sleep to enhance motor learning

The slow-wave sleep that dominates the early part of your night is primarily responsible for consolidating motor skills and detailed information.

#sleep

#slow-wave

Utilize lateral eye movements to suppress amygdala activity

Scientific studies show that lateral eye movements, like those used in EMDR, directly suppress the activity of the amygdala, the brain's threat-detection center.

#brain

#therapy

Avoid alcohol and THC to maintain healthy sleep architecture

Alcohol and THC disrupt the critical sequencing of sleep, preventing the proper cycling between deep slow-wave sleep early in the night and REM sleep later.