Dreaming: An Introduction to the Science of Sleep

174 Pages·2004·2.1 MB·English

by  J. Allan Hobson M.D.

Dreaming
An Introduction to the Science of Sleep
J. Allan Hobson is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical
School, Boston, Massachusetts. He was the recipient of the
Distinguished Scientist Award of the Sleep Research Society
in 1988.
His major research interests are the neurophysiological basis of
the mind and behaviour; sleep and dreaming; and the history of
neurology and psychiatry, with his most recent work focussing
on the cognitive features and benefits of sleep. He is the author
or co-author of many books, including: The Dreaming Brain
(1988), Sleep (1995), Consciousness (1999), Dreaming as Delirium:
How the brain goes out of its mind (1999), The Dream Drugstore
(2001), and Out of its Mind: Psychiatry in Crisis (2001).

Dreaming
An Introduction to the Science of Sleep
J. ALLAN HOBSON, MD
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
OXFORD
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© J. Allan Hobson 2002
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First published in hardback 2002
First published in paperback 2003
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
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ISBN 0--19-280482-0
1 3579 10 8642
Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in Great Britain T.J. International Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall
The research upon which this book is based was conducted in the
author's laboratory at the Massachusetts Mental Health Centre
when it was supported by grants for the NIH, NSF, NIDA, and
the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation. I thank my
colleagues for their collaboration and Nicholas Tranquillo for
help with the manuscript.
v

Introduction xi
1 What is dreaming? 1
2 Why did the analysis of dream content fail to become a
science? 17
3 How is the brain activated in sleep? 35
4 Cells and molecules of the dreaming brain 53
5 Why dream? The functions of brain activation in sleep 71
6 Disorders of dreaming 88
7 Dreaming as delirium: sleep and mental illness 97
8 The new neuropsychology of dreaming 106
9 Dreaming, learning, and memory 119
10 Dream consciousness 133
11 The interpretation of dreams 147
Conclusion 158
Index 161
vii
1 Does everyone dream? 11
2 Can dreams foretell the future? 20
3 Do we dream in black and white or in colour? 43
4 Do animals dream? 57
5 When does dreaming start? 73
6 Do blind people see in their dreams? 116
7 Are dreams caused by indigestion? 126
8 What is lucid dreaming? 140
9 Are men's and women's dreams different? 151—2
viii