3 Facts about Sleep Apnea
Sleep Apnea. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute defines it like this on their website: “Sleep apnea (AP-ne-ah) is […]
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Brainfunda
Brain and Mind fundamentals curated bij mindfunda.com
The Ideal World: Is Science Going to Create it?
In an ideal world we would learn from the past and create a future that is based on the progress
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Ramon y Cajal: Father of Neurology and his Vision on Dreams
A Book review of The Dreams of Santiago Ramon y Cajal by Benjamin Ehrlich
In this blog you will find out:
why the Nobel price winner Cajal wanted to proof Freud wrong
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How to Analyse a dream with an Archetype in 4 Easy Steps
How do you analyse a dream that clearly features an Archetype ? This blog gives you three easy steps. This is part two of a series of HOW TO blogs about dreams on Mindfunda. Each one features a case study in which I carefully, step by step attribute meaning to dream symbols.
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Aging and Becoming: A Roadmap Towards Authenticity
Aging and Becoming, A Reflective Inquiry, written by Susan Scott and Susan Schwartz is a book that will try to paint a roadmap of your journey through aging, using the letters of the alphabet as gps points.
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Spiritual Soul Searching: Mindfunda Course
In our rational Western Society, dreams are no longer regarded portals into higher knowledge. Do something radical and challenge yourself to set aside everything you were taught about religion. Become your own guru and let your intuition and dreams guide the path of your life.
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Freud in His Time and Ours
Freud in His Time and Ours by Roudinesco contains more than 400 pages of information about Freud, his life, his disciples and his personality. A must read for anyone who is interested in dreams.
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Nutrition, Neurons, and the Brain: Your Brain on Food Book Review
Gary L. Wenk’s Your Brain on Food: How Chemicals Control Your Thoughts and Feelings delves into the fascinating relationship between food, the brain, and our emotions. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding how nutrition can become addictive and impact mental health, Wenk, a Professor at Ohio State University, explains how food and drugs affect brain chemistry. From the effects of fat on taste to the role of antioxidants in brain health, this book uncovers essential insights about how our brain responds to the foods we eat and why food is so much more than just sustenance. Learn about neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and more, and discover why eating less is beneficial for both your body and brain.
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Consciousness: the Ripples in the Lake of the Brain
‘A Day in the Life of the Brain – The Neuroscience of Consciousness from Dawn Till Dusk’ by Susan Greenfield
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3 things you should know about a Visitation Dream
Unlock the mystery of visitation dreams and connect with loved ones beyond the veil. Explore powerful rituals, dream incubation techniques, and ancient traditions tied to Samhain to prepare your mind for profound messages from the departed.
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How to Remember your Dreams
Master the art of remembering dreams with expert tips from Christian Gerike, M.A., Psychology of Dreams instructor at Sonoma State University. Learn how gentle awakenings, dream journaling, and dream incubation can deepen your connection to the unconscious mind and enhance dream recall.
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Sleeping Well, Remembering Dreams
Discover how to sleep better and enhance your dream recall in Part I of this insightful guest blog by Christian Gerike, M.A., a Psychology of Dreams instructor at Sonoma State University. Learn the secrets of optimizing your sleep cycle and practical tips for a restful night.
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Problem Solving using the Committee of Sleep
Dreams have long been seen as windows into our unconscious minds, offering insight and inspiration for solving life’s problems. Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D., explores this fascinating connection in her book The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Dreams for Creative Problem Solving—and How You Can Too. Barrett delves into how creative minds in various fields have harnessed the power of dreams to solve complex problems, make groundbreaking discoveries, and fuel their art.
Through real-life stories, such as Paul McCartney’s famous Yesterday melody, which he dreamed before turning it into one of the most iconic songs of all time, Barrett shows how dreams can provide the keys to creativity. Whether it’s an artist receiving visual inspiration or a scientist stumbling upon the solution to a problem, dreams have the ability to unlock new perspectives and solutions. However, Barrett also acknowledges the lack of a practical guide in the book, leaving readers without concrete steps on how to tap into dreams for problem-solving directly.
If you’re fascinated by the role dreams play in human creativity, The Committee of Sleep offers a compelling collection of dream-inspired stories. But if you’re looking for actionable advice on using dreams to solve your own problems, this may not be the book for you.
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Neurologic: understanding more of you and your world
In NeuroLogic: The Brain’s Hidden Rationale Behind Our Irrational Behavior, Eliezer Sternberg delves into the fascinating ways the brain shapes our actions, from irrational behavior to the complexities of dreams. This book offers insights into the neurological underpinnings of perception, memory, learning, and identity. Sternberg explores how dreams emerge from neurological processes, examining sleepwalking, syndromes, and the intricate ways our brain creates stories during sleep. While Sternberg doesn’t attribute dreams to a deeper spiritual or mystical realm, his exploration of brain activity offers a compelling look at the science behind our nightly narratives.
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Sleeping beauty as modern day Inanna
Sleeping Beauty and Inanna’s Descent: Parallels of Darkness, Fertility, and Renewal
In the month of December, Mindfunda continues its exploration of descent myths with a deep dive into the striking parallels between the myth of Inanna and the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Both stories portray a journey through darkness—whether symbolized by death, sleep, or infertility—and emphasize rebirth and renewal as key themes.
In the Sumerian myth, Inanna, the Great Goddess of Heaven and Earth, descends into the Underworld, stripping herself of power and identity as she confronts her dark sister, Ereshkigal. Similarly, Sleeping Beauty succumbs to a curse cast by the “uninvited” dark goddess-like fairy, symbolizing the waning moon or the shadow side of feminine creation. With the kingdom suspended in sleep, the land reflects the mythic Waste Land, echoing themes of stagnation and infertility seen in Arthurian Grail legends.
Both heroines experience a form of paralysis—Inanna, hung on a meat hook in the Underworld, and Sleeping Beauty, pricked by a spindle and put into a century-long slumber. The resolution comes with help from the animus—the masculine aspect of the self. Inanna is saved by the compassionate beings created by Enki, the God of Wisdom, while Sleeping Beauty is awakened by the kiss of the prince. These acts represent the integration of inner masculine energy—empowering creativity, healing, and reawakening fertility in life.
The myth of Inanna and the tale of Sleeping Beauty remind us that descent is a necessary step in transformation. Whether it’s through creative blocks, emotional wounds, or life’s trials, descending into darkness holds the potential for growth and renewal. By embracing both our shadow and our strength, we can awaken our “Sleeping Beauty” and reclaim our power to create, love, and thrive.
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Evolution: a new ancestor of homo sapiens
A new ancestor of human has been found: Homo Naledi. Mindfunda tells you about the cave and the people responsible for making the discovery in a cave in South Africa. Read about the new Rosetta Stone and how this piece of the puzzles raises new questions about our inheritance.
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Alzheimer day
On September 21, Alzheimer’s Day, we reflect on the 20 million people worldwide diagnosed with this devastating disease named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. While occasional forgetfulness is normal, Alzheimer’s symptoms include disorientation, personality changes, and difficulty with everyday tasks. Sleep issues and vivid dreams may also serve as early indicators of the disease, as research links poor sleep quality to amyloid plaque buildup in the brain. Prioritizing sleep and early diagnosis can help manage risks. Learn the signs and stay informed about this growing health concern affecting our aging population.
Oliver Sacks, the man from Awakenings, about dreaming
Explore the profound insights of Oliver Sacks on dreams and consciousness. From his groundbreaking work connecting neurological disorders with dream phenomena to his belief that waking consciousness is dreaming constrained by reality, Sacks offers a unique perspective on the connection between mind, body, and dreams.
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Meditation
Reading The Buddha Pill (Click to buy the book and support Mindfunda) written by Miguel Farias and Catherine Wikholm gave
Dreaming: Do you know Where your Consciousness Goes when You fall asleep?
You are tired. You lie down in bed, close your eyes, yawn and drift away… What happened to your consciousness? Dreaming by Jennifer Windt addresses this question. Philosophical groundwork for modern dream research.
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Take a nap to improve your hippocampus
German researchers have showed in a recent research that taking a nap improves your grades at school
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Ray Kurzweil: futurist or fool?
Some say Ray Kurzweil is a genius. Some say Ray Kurzweil is a mad-man. When he was 17 Ray created
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Mind your micro expressions?
Micro expressions. We heard of them. We saw the smile of O.J. and we all thought he was guilty.
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Spirit molecule: the stuff dreams are made of
Is there a specific molecule responsible for dreaming? And -if so- could it be Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)? Rick Strassman wrote a book about it: The spirit molecule.
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Dream recall, a question of packing things together
Dream recall: there are ways to improve it. Research shows that there is also a difference in brain activity. Participate in a new study about dream recall done by Grefgory Scott Sparrow, Kelley Bulkeley and Ryan Hurd.
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Michio Kaku: the dreaming mind
Imagine that you are in the cinema late at night. You sit down in your chair, comfortable, relax and watch
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Dopamine dreaming
During dreaming the dopamine pathway in the brain plays an important role. ‘Mr. Pleasure principle’ Mark Solms, the man who
Music: what does it mean to you?
Without music, life would be a mistake Nietzsche I think music has a special meaning for us don’t you? We,
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Oneirology: what a day for a daydream
The word Oneirology is built out of Oneiron: dreams and logica: making sense of. Oneirology is the scientific study of dreams.
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Neurology newsflash: new neurons trained in sleep
In today’s Mindfunda I want to dedicate a blog to the brain. To neurology to be more specific (see here
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What your cd collection tells about your personality traits
Psychologist Sam Gosling wrote an interesting book about what your material stuff (your cd and book collection even your paintings and even
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10 remarkable things about the human brain
Unexpected Fact #1: There are no right-brained versus left brained people! Unexpected Fact #2: Awareness can not be traced back
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Sleep: how long can you stay awake? and 15 other secrets about sleep
What is the longest time somebody did not sleep? What happens in the brain when we sleep? Why do you
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Brain waves can move objects
Using brain waves to move an object: a drone. It flies on brain power, by focussing on moves.
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Brain evolution
In Communing with the Gods, Charles Laughlin explores the fascinating interplay between brain evolution, dreaming, and human consciousness. Through an anthropological lens, Laughlin delves into how dreaming has shaped survival, creativity, and even the symbolic process of language evolution.
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do: how the brain uses rational strategies to make the world a safer place
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Little known ways to look at dream content
Alec Berezow of RealClear science finds out after analyzing dream reports of 60 patients there are differences in the way people describe their dream that gives an indication of the success of therapy.
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The Human Genome project: how we are all connected
All living things originate from a thread of genetic similarity that connects us and the roughly 10 million other species. Everything is connected.
Old mythologies have told us so, now science confirms this. The human genome project is a project that has bene do fascinating, there is a book you got to read about it.
This book combines science with all the juicyness of human relationships and conflicting characters
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the Science of sleep (film with trailer)
Film is the modern way of telling myths. The science of sleep is a film for dreamers: about all the forms
reality can disguise itself in.
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Three steps to a good night sleep
Looking for a good night’s sleep? Discover the natural recipe that supports your sleep cycle with the right foods. Learn how Tryptophan, Serotonin, and Melatonin work together to ensure a restful night, from choosing the right foods to improving gut health. This guide gives you 3 simple steps to enhance your sleep, along with a bonus step to eliminate sugar and create lasting healthy habits. Achieve the best sleep ever by following these simple, science-backed steps for better rest and well-being.
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