What REM sleep does for your brain—and 3 ways to trigger more of it | Patrick McNamara

This interview is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @JohnTempletonFoundation. Subscribe to The Well on YouTube ► Watch Patrick McNamara’s next interview ► Neuroscientist Patrick McNamara emphasizes the importance of REM sleep, during which we dream, in fueling human creativity and cultural progression. He explains that during REM sleep, our brains cultivate an atmosphere conducive to fostering connections between unrelated concepts, leading to uniquely human, innovative outcomes. A notable feature of REM sleep is its ability to merge disparate ideas to generate inventive solutions to problems. Despite the modern world’s diminished appreciation for dreams, McNamara points out that traditional societies have always respected their transformative abilities. By effectively utilizing REM sleep, we can potentially unlock hidden creative abilities and a