Stanford Neuroscientist: Can’t Remember Your Dreams? Your Brain May Be Warning You!

TL;DR

The brain is a “team of rivals” of competing neural networks, not a single unified self. Purpose of dreaming is to defend the visual cortex from takeover by other senses during darkness. Brain remains plastic throughout life, but change requires seeking challenge and “virtuous friction.

Key insights

• Humans have 86 billion neurons organized into competing neural networks (e.g., “party brain” vs. “don't eat it” brain), making every person a “team of rivals.”
• A “Ulysses contract” constrains future bad behavior by altering current environment (e.g., removing alcohol from the house).
• Brain plasticity is highest at age 2 then declines, but this is because crystallized intelligence reduces need for change, not because capacity is lost.