The Mind at Night: The New Science of how and why We DreamOver the past few decades, there has been a revolution in scientific knowledge about why we dream, what's actually happening to the brain when we do, and what the sleeping mind reveals about our waking hours. Beginning with the birth of dream research in the 1950s, award-winning science reporter Andrea Rock traces the brief but fascinating history of this emerging scientific field. She then takes us into modern sleep labs across the country, bringing the scientists to life as she interprets their intellectual breakthroughs and asks the questions that intrigue us all: Why do we remember only a fraction of our dreams? Why are dreams usually accompanied by intense emotion, such as fear or anxiety? Can we really control our dreams without waking up? Are universal dream interpretations valid? Is dreaming our way of consolidating long-term memories and filtering the day's mental detritus? Can dreams truly spark creative thought or help solve problems? Accessible and engaging, The Mind at Night shines a bright light on our nocturnal journeys, while revealing the crucial role dreams could play in penetrating the mystery of consciousness. |
Contents
Preface | v |
Rockettes EEGs and Banana Cream Pie | xiii |
The AntiFreud | 15 |
Experiments of Nature | 39 |
The Lesson of the Spiny Anteater | 59 |
Rerunning the Maze | 75 |
Nocturnal Therapy | 99 |
The Ultimate Spin Doctor | 119 |
Creative Chaos | 133 |
Altered States | 147 |
Consciousness and Beyond | 171 |
Epilogue | 185 |
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actually Allan Hobson Antrobus appeared areas Aserinsky awake awakened awareness behavior bizarre brain-imaging studies brainstem Braun Cartwright children's dreams cognitive color create creative Crick Dement disorder Domhoff dream content dream imagery dream recall dream reports dream research dreamer dreaming brain emotional experience eye movements fact feeling forebrain Foulkes Foulkes's Freud Freudian function happens Hartmann hippocampus Hobson human images interview J. A. Hobson John Antrobus Jouvet Kleitman Koch LaBerge learning limbic system lucid dreaming Maquet memory memory consolidation mind neuromodulators neurons Neuroscience neuroscientists night non-REM normal occur off-line patients patterns percent physiological prefrontal cortex psychologist Rechtschaffen recorded REM period REM sleep replay role says scientific scientists sensory signals Sleep and Dreams sleep lab sleep onset sleep stages slow-wave sleep Solms Solms's Stephen LaBerge Stickgold Study of Dreams test subjects Tetris theory thought tion triggered vivid waking consciousness waking hours William Dement Winson