Michael L. Perlis, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has been involved in the world of sleep medicine since the 1980s, when he was still in his early twenties. Compelled by an interest in understanding the function of dreaming, he was at the same time rather certain he would never be drawn to insomnia, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI), or placebo research, but ironically, those three areas of research comprise about 90 percent of his work in sleep medicine today.

Perlis explores some fascinating topics on today’s episode, including the function and purpose of dreaming, what it means to have lucid dreams and whether or not they’re beneficial to us, insomnia and near-death experiences, subjective experiences versus objective measurements in the world of sleep medicine, acute versus chronic insomnia, the evolutionary roots of insomnia, and CBTI.

Tune in for the full conversation and get in contact with a CBTI professional at www.cbti.directory.

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