NEW YORK, NY.- The Rubin Museum’s acclaimed BRAINWAVE series is back for its fourth season, with a new focus on the relationship between dreams and creativity, prophecy and consciousness. A number of dialogues between writers and scientists involved in the study of the mind will explore the connection between storytelling and vivid dreaming. Kicking off this set of talks is prize-winning writer Nathan Englander and neuroscientist Amir Raz, who will delve into the power of suggestion in dreams on February 27. Subsequent conversations include writer Amy Tan with clinical psychologist Deidre Barrett on dream-induced creative leaps; writer Siri Hustvedt with neuropsychiatrist Jaak Panksepp on the nature of sleep; and legal thriller writer Scott Turow and neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga explore how justice and retribution are processed in the brain.

The BRAINWAVE series seeks to explore a broad range of questions surrounding the unconscious state. Why do we dream? What function does this ancillary brain activity serve? Do dreams anticipate the future? Can dreams inspire creativity in our waking lives? In addition to dialogues with playwright John Patrick Shanley, painter David Salle, actress Debra Winger and other artists paired with leading scientists, the museum will host its first "dream-over" for adults, and a series of workshops complementing the U.S. theatrical premiere of the award-winning documentary The Edge of Dreaming, which explores prophetic dreaming.

The Rubin Museum’s Producer, Tim McHenry said, “The subject of dreaming was a natural choice. Buddhism might not exist were it not for the ‘conception’ dream of Queen Maya, the Buddha’s mother. In her dream a white elephant comes to her while she is sleeping and penetrates her right side with his trunk. It is from this same side that the Buddha is born, setting in motion a chain of fantastic events that would eventually lead to his Enlightenment. Through BRAINWAVE, the museum will collaborate with an incredible cross-section of the creative community to enable a dynamic exploration of the life of the mind.”