Famed psychologist Sigmund Freud believed dreams were symbolic expressions of desire.

Salvador Dalí idolized Freud but was disappointed after they met

Sigmund Freud's writings on dreams and the unconscious profoundly influenced Dalí and his work, and the artist came to idolize the Austrian psychoanalyst. When they met, Freud viewed Dalí as an odd curiosity, and the artist came away disappointed, significantly lowering his opinion of the psychoanalyst.

For most of recorded history dreams were considered divine in origin.

What do your dreams mean, according to science

Humans have been interpreting dreams as signs from deities, spirits, or the psyche for ages, and research shows that reflecting on and analyzing one's dreams can be beneficial. In alignment with dreams' elusive nature, they have no objective or clearly assigned meaning. However, variations of common dreams, such as a surprise exam in a forgotten class, are rife with shared primal fears.

Surrealism toyed with ideas from psychoanalysis

The movement's artists were interested in the ideas being explored in the burgeoning fields of psychology and psychoanalysis. Dalí, in particular, often created works that toyed with Freudian theories.

Who was Freud and what did he say?

Sigmund Freud is one of the most famous psychologists and is widely cited—but do you really know the basics of what he taught? Here's a super brief breakdown of his major insights.

What is Freud's idea of the unconscious?

The unconscious has become a widely used term, but Freud meant something quite specific. Here's a look into his technical use of the term.

The study of dreams, formally called oneirology, has evolved over the centuries, from anecdotal interpretations to advanced brain imaging.

How your subconscious influences your decisions

How much of your desires and daily choices are truly yours? One of the most effective ways to influence someone's subconscious is when they're asleep. To study this possibility, researchers trained participants to be able to dream lucidly, a phenomenon that occurs when a dreamer knows they're dreaming.

Dreams have long been used for religious and political power.

The dreaming brain, as understood by scientists

Technology has advanced to where the seemingly separate fields of psychology and neuroscience are asking the same questions about dreams, such as whether they're more closely related to perception or visualization. Some field-intersecting findings include research that shows people with impaired face perception don't dream of faces, those with brain legion-related cognition difficulties deal with similar issues in dreams, and children's dreams change in parallel to their cognitive development.

Carl Jung proposed the controversial idea of the 'collective unconscious'—all humans share a common psychic realm.

Dreaming under the Nazi Regime

Days after Hitler seized power, a man told psychoanalyst Charlotte Beradt that he had dreamed of being forced to raise his arm in a Nazi salute ("It took me half an hour to get my arm up, inch by inch"). Beradt recorded this dream and many others so they "might one day serve as evidence." This is an English translation of her work, "The Third Reich of Dreams."

The ideas of Einstein and Freud combined in 'The Persistence of Memory'

The Persistence of Memory was painted on a canvas roughly the size of a sheet of paper, depicting a desolate landscape with melting clocks, ants, and a distorted figure. The piece incorporates Freud and Einstein's ideas, resulting in a haunting composition symbolizing time's fluidity and Dalí's personal anxieties.

Pareidolia, the cognitive bias that leads people to find meaning in randomness, helps explain why humans look for meaning in their dreams and even in their tea leaves.

Jungian archetypes can reveal personality traits

Swiss psychologist Carl Jung argued that we’re drawn to familiar character types—such as heroes, caregivers, or rebels—because they reflect universal archetypes embedded in the human subconscious. He believed these patterns shape behavior, motivation, and personal growth.

Sleep is no longer considered a binary state—scientists are seeking to map a variety of liminal states between sleep and waking, including the hypnagogic state associated with boosts of creativity.

Visualizing how we dream via Google search trends

When dreams perplex us, we often want to understand them—and in the age of Google, millions go to its search engine to find answers. Now, researchers have compiled a decade's worth of dream-related queries to glean dream trends across seven languages. See what dream was most commonly searched in Arabic in 2015, or what fears and hopes are specific to one culture and time alone with this unique visual essay.

Freud and Jung were once friends. What drove them to break up?

Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud and Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung were fast friends, immediately hitting it off the first time they met in 1907. This four-minute video dives into the intellectual divide that drove them apart.

Existentialism has been used as a therapeutic tool

Psychologists became interested in existentialism in the 1940s, with two Swiss psychiatrists—Ludwig Binswanger and Medard Boss—particularly taken with Martin Heidegger’s “Being and Time.” The existential approach to therapy emphasized a patient’s personhood and experiences, using them to help that patient face their problems head-on.

Wilhelm Wundt's place in the history of psychology

While ancient philosophers considered the central problems of psychology, it was Wilhelm Wundt who first called himself one. Here's a quick video overview of his contribution.

What is psychoanalysis?

This nine-minute video, the first of a four-part series, seeks to answer the questions: what is psychoanalysis, and is it weird? The answer to the latter question is overwhelmingly yes. The answer to the first question is a bit...

Meet the psychologist who reads people through the art they live with

Dimitrios Tsivrikos, an academic psychologist at University College London, says the art someone hangs in their home reveals as much about them as a bookshelf would. He advises going on a first date at a museum and asking each other about the work on the walls.

Sleep research indicates dogs likely dream about their toys, food, and owners.

Browse and explore dozens of major psychology theories

There are a ton of different psych theories—so here's a breakdown of some of the major ones according to the general psychological focus.

Sartre wrote an 8-hour screenplay for a Freud biopic

Sartre was hired to write the screenplay for what would eventually become John Huston's 1962 film "Freud: The Secret Passion," about the life of the psychoanalyst. Sartre, however, had trouble sticking to the parameters of Hollywood. An early draft was estimated to be five hours long. Rather than shortening it, as Huston suggested, Sartre extended it to eight hours and was eventually removed from the production.

The hippocampus, located deep inside the temporal lobe, appears to play a central role in dreaming and memory, according to recent research on dreaming and damage to that area of the brain.

The scientists trying to prove Jackson Pollock's symbolism

Jackson Pollock is one of the most famous American artists in history. He is well-known for his Abstract Expressionist "drip paintings," which seemed to defy interpretation. But following the artist's posthumous bipolar diagnosis, a team of scientists attempted to prove that his symptoms, including mania and psychosis, caused Pollock to embed images under his thrown paint.

O'Keeffe's flowers are one of her most famous—and most misunderstood—motifs

Both critics and fans alike believed O'Keeffe's flower paintings were of female genitalia, though the artist never welcomed that interpretation. Part of the reason was that Freudian analysis was popular at the time they were first exhibited. Another was that her partner, Alfred Stieglitz, along with others in the art world, insisted on her work being erotic. Below is "Abstraction White Rose" from 1927.

Friedrich Nietzsche theorized that we will live our lives over and over again: the myth of eternal recurrence

Rather than a theory of physics, the idea is designed as a moral argument. While Nietzsche famously eschewed the Christian afterlife, he wanted to avoid the nihilism that results from no longer having such an ultimate horizon. In a mystical moment, the philosopher came to believe that the fleeting moments of our lives would be repeated, presenting a test: would you want to relive this moment? If not, he would argue, you're not living well.

The neurobiology of meaningfulness: the benefits of psychedelics

Psychedelics produce powerful emotions in its users, including a profound sense of meaningfulness. The philosopher William James called this sense "noetic" in the late 19th century, but for decades researchers avoided studying the effects of such drugs on the brain. However, the recent resurgence in psychedelic research has heightened interest in the relationship between this noetic sense resulting from the therapeutic use of drugs. Learn what researchers have found out here.

Nightmares are unpredictable, but are linked to stress, anxiety, trauma, and more.

The benefits of lucid dreaming

Lucid dreams happen when the dreamer knows they've stepped out of the bounds of waking life. Studies show it can help dreamers cultivate creativity, process grief, and work through trauma. A 2021 study found that 85% of participants with PTSD no longer qualified for the diagnosis after a week of trauma-informed lucid dreaming in which they intentionally witnessed (and therefore integrated) recurring nightmares or changed the outcome completely.

'Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.'

- Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) in "Elenora"

William James laid the foundation for psychology as a scientific discipline in the US

Though initially trained in painting, James would help establish Harvard's psychology department as a distinct science rather than an extension of philosophy. He taught one of the first psychology courses in America and is credited as one of the founders of American Pragmatism.

A psychiatrist warns that chasing happiness can lead to misery

Rafa Euba, a retired consultant psychiatrist, argues that happiness is a vague and abstract concept that is hard to quantify. He suggests accepting that suffering and pain are a normal part of life. An attainable goal for one's life is to attempt to minimize pain, and pursue balance and contentment rather than a false ideal of permanent bliss.

JJ Schildkraut theorized depression is linked to brain chemical imbalances—in 1965

Schildkraut was one of the first to put forward this idea, which stemmed from lab animal research. A decade later, researchers published the first landmark paper on fluoxetine—better known by trade name Prozac—which increases serotonin levels in the brain.

Psychology research shows that conspiracy theorists tend to have a desire to be unique

While conspiracy theorists are often understood to have feelings of powerlessness in their lives, research suggests they may also be inclined to set themselves apart from the masses.

Unpacking 'Night Journey,' Martha Graham's take on a Greek myth

The dance piece was inspired by the story of Oedipus, as well as by more contemporary psychoanalytic theories from Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. This JSTOR article explores how Graham's show merged those texts with her singular approach to movement to explore gender and identity.

The free will versus determinism debate: major thinkers weigh in

Do we have free will in our actions or are we totally determined? An all-star cast of contemporary thinkers share insights on the crucial debate.

Mathematicians often solve problems using wordless mental processes

It's a common technique among expert mathematicians, where thinkers rely on intuition, blurry perceptions and subconscious work—no writing, no formulas. The state is distinct from daydreaming, and often relies on sudden illuminations stemming from extended periods of subconscious reflection.

Panpsychism suggests that all matter possesses consciousness

The theory describes consciousness as a fundamental, ubiquitous property, rather than separate or emerging from matter. Cosmopsychism posits that the universe is conscious, while some critics argue that consciousness itself may be an illusion.

'Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature. Never try to correct them. On the contrary: rationalize them, understand them thoroughly. After that, it will be possible for you to sublimate them.'

- Artist Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)

How seizures (potentially) alter consciousness

Seizures occur when intense electrical activity floods the brain, prompting significant loss of self-control and a variety of sensory disruptions and hallucinations. Cultures interpret the episodes differently, with many contemporary norms viewing them as negative while others characterize them as intense spiritual occasions. Author Fyodor Dostoyevsky viewed his seizures this way, as well as cultures in Mongolia, some Shamanic indigenous religions, and others.

What it means to call something 'Lynchian'

David Lynch was one of American cinema's most influential directors. He brought a singular, unsettling vision to the silver screen. Critics, however, have trouble pinning down what it means when other artists try to recreate that vision. This essay untangles his influence, tracing the word "Lynchian" back to its earliest utterances and attempting to define a notoriously slippery term.

How neurons give rise to thoughts

Neurons in the brain are singular nerve cells that flicker on and off or connect to each other based on incoming stimuli. The more neurons communicate by firing electrical impulses through tendrils known as synapses, the stronger their connection becomes. The electrical energy zipping along these interneural connections in an attempt to classify and respond to incoming stimuli may be what gives rise to thoughts.

German expressionism produced some of horror’s earliest classics

After World War I, German filmmakers turned from reality to the surreal, fusing experimental art with the nascent world of film. Some of the movement’s most notable films, like FW Murnau’s “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” and Robert Wiene’s “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” were intent on frightening their audiences.

How we learn: comparing classical and operant conditioning

Psychology helps us see how we learn, whether through positive reinforcement or by conditioning a response to a stimulus. Learn about these two key theories in this brief video.

Sleep disorders can exacerbate neurological and other health conditions

Brain regions that control sleep sit adjacent to those that regulate the autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary bodily functions like heart and breathing rates. These neighbors influence each other, meaning poor sleep can impair or negatively impact the ANS, further disturbing sleep.

Brain conditions and surgery can cause some individuals to feel no fear

Fear is a survival mechanism that originates in the brain's amygdala, triggering the body's fight-or-flight response. However, in modern society, without the same natural dangers, fear can lead to anxiety and mental health issues when unnecessarily triggered. Understanding individuals without fear may help identify new methods to treat anxiety disorders.

Social scientists hold various beliefs about the role of marriage in our lives

Functionalists believe that marriage fulfills specific needs, while conflict theory highlights inherent power struggles within a couple’s relationship.