Weird Dreams Might be a Brain Feature, Not a Bug

Learn how weird dreams may help us in the real world; how we date dinosaurs; and why a healthy grip means a healthy body.

A theory from AI says our weird dreams help us better perceive the world by Briana Brownell

• Our dreams’ weirdness might be why we have them, argues new AI-inspired theory of dreaming. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/cp-odw050621.php
• Hoel, E. (2021). The overfitted brain: Dreams evolved to assist generalization. Patterns, 2(5), 100244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2021.100244

Paleontologists know how old dinosaurs were when they died because bones are like tree rings by Cameron Duke

• Anonymous. (2019, June 11). Which Dinosaur Bones Are “Real”? Field Museum. https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/which-dinosaur-bones-are-real
• Field Museum. (2020, November 25). Growth Rings From Fossil Bones Reveals T. rex Had Huge Growth Spurts, but Other Dinosaurs Grew “Slow and Steady.” SciTechDaily. https://scitechdaily.com/growth-rings-from-fossil-bones-reveals-t-rex-had-huge-growth-spurts-but-other-dinosaurs-grew-slow-and-steady/
• Welsh, J. (2012, June 27). How Sweet! Dinosaurs May Have Been Warm-Blooded After All. Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/21215-dinosaur-bones-warm-blooded.html
• Wits University. (2021, May 12). Southern African dinosaur had irregular growth. Phys.org; Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2021-05-southern-african-dinosaur-irregular-growth.html

A Healthy Grip Means a Healthy Body by Ashley Hamer

• Grip Strength Is Good Indicator of Overall Health - UConn Today. (2011, June 6). UConn Today. https://today.uconn.edu/2011/06/grip-strength-is-good-indicator-of-overall-health/#
• Sanderson, W. C., & Scherbov, S. (2014). Measuring the Speed of Aging across Population Subgroups. PLoS ONE, 9(5), e96289. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0096289
• Mukherjee, S., Clouston, S., Kotov, R., Bromet, E., & Luft, B. (2019). Handgrip Strength of World Trade Center (WTC) Responders: The Role of Re-Experiencing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptoms. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(7), 1128. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071128

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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/weird-dreams-might-be-a-brain-feature-not-a-bug

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