Neurosurgeon Breaks Down the Science of Dreaming, The One Dream That Predicts The Future, How to Lucid Dream, and The Incredible Things Your Brain Does As You Die

Mayim Bialik's Breakdown

Mayim Bialik

Mental Health, Society & Culture, Wellness, Health & Fitness, Comedy, Thebigbangtheory, Spirituality, Selfimprovement, Mentalhealth

4.7 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if your dreams could predict disease, unlock creativity, reveal hidden trauma—and even be controlled? Dr. Rahul Jandial, MD, PhD (dual-trained neurosurgeon and neuroscientist, founder of the Jandial Lab at City of Hope Cancer Center in Los Angeles, and bestselling author of This is Why You Dream) takes you inside the wild, cutting-edge world of dream neuroscience and the sleeping brain. Discover how this top brain surgeon can create a memory of a nightmare during awake brain surgery, what the brain does just before death, and how dream patterns may predict neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Learn why erotic dreams occur, how lucid dreaming can enhance your waking life, what happens during sleep paralysis, and why some people don’t remember their dreams—plus expert sleep tips to improve dream recall. Dr. Jandial also explores the deep links between trauma and nightmares, depression, and the eerie science of precognitive dreams and near-death experiences (NDEs). From the universal themes of falling and flying dreams to the latest on how AI might already be hacking your dreams, this is everything your brain’s doing while you sleep—and why it matters more than ever.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Why do we dream?
0:02.0	Dreaming is high-intensity training for creativity and imagination and emotion.
0:06.0	There's mystery and magic to it, and it's a sacred space.
0:09.0	If dreams are good for us, why are we have nightmares?
0:12.0	We are inheriting our thinking and dream processes from our ancestors.
0:17.0	When children dream of animals, they tend to dream of beasts, not puppies.
0:21.6	Nightmares could be a warning sign for mental health issues.
0:24.6	They're linked to depression. They're linked to suicide.
0:27.6	We may have gotten it wrong thinking death is when the heart stops beating.
0:30.6	Your brain dies a few minutes after your heart dies.
0:33.6	Death is electrical silencing of brain activity.
0:36.6	The heart is stopped, but for three minutes
0:39.7	after, there's an explosion of brain activity. It doesn't go out in a whimper. The last thing that
0:45.3	the brain does is just launch all the neurotransmitters, all the electricity. Some people who are
0:50.8	resuscitated and see, I saw my whole life story. It's consistent.
0:55.0	Or near-death experiences.
0:57.0	Those electrical patterns are like wild dreams.
0:59.0	So maybe death is one last dream.
1:01.0	There is one dream or dream pattern that predicts the future.
1:06.0	And that's...
1:08.0	Before we dive into today's episode, I'm going to ask you to do something very quick, very easy, but super helpful.
1:21.1	I'm going to ask you to hit the subscribe button. You see it? Go get it. Hit the subscribe button.
	...

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