Boston is a hub of dream research, with dream research projects being conducted at Harvard, MIT, and Boston University. This month we are fortunate and honored to have as our guest speaker David Kahn, Ph.D. who will generously share his knowledge from years of experience as a dream researcher at Harvard. He will talk about night dreams and may also talk about day dreams (mind wandering) as well.

Here is his summary of his talk: What happens in the brain when we dream? Wake-like brain waves begin to appear some time after we fall asleep. This occurs when we go into the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep usually about 90 minutes after falling asleep (sometimes called “paradoxical sleep” because of the wake-like brain waves in this stage of sleep). In this stage many of the brain regions whose neural activity diminished as sleep ensued, become reactivated. Importantly, not all brain regions become reactivated. Instead, there is a selective reactivation of neural activity when REM is reached. This selective re- and deactivation affects dreams by changing our short-term autobiographical memory recall, changes how we integrate previously learned information, and often places strong affect into our dreams. Additionally, while all neuromodulatory brain stem systems are available when awake and engaged in goal directed behavior, when we fall asleep some of the neuromodulatory brain stem systems shut off. When we reach REM two of these systems completely shut off. This causes a change in our brain chemistry that affects how our minds process information during the REM stage of dreaming.

David Kahn, Ph.D. is currently an Instructor in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School., is a Board member and Advisor to the Executive committee of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD). He is a Past President and Board Chair of IASD.

Payment is $10 and can be made online or in person. Anyone who cannot afford to pay is welcome to attend and should contact the group organizer Deerheart before attending.

Event will be from 7 pm until 9 pm. Space is limited to 25 people. RSVP requested. Please update your RSVP if you are unable to attend, to allow others to attend. Thank you.

For directions and other information about Cambridge Swedenborg Chapel, please visit http://www.swedenborg...