This book is about sleeping and dreaming as explained by arts and science: where sleep is described as being the natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored. The contents detail the body's relaxation as induced by graded switching off of the nerves. All species of mammals undergo regular periods of it, varying with age, species, and with the seasonal changes of day length. Sleep is a natural state of torpor, and a lowering of consciousness associated with changes in the patterns of electrical waves recorded from the brain. Additionally, it clarifies the dream states, as a series of thoughts, images, poetry, or emotions occurring during sleep. Dreams can also be experiences of waking life: having the characteristics of a dream as a visionary creation of the imagination; as a day-dream state of mind marked by abstraction or release from reality; a reverie, as an object seen in a dream-like state; and vision, as a wishful creation of the imagination.

The Science and Art of Dreaming is an innovative text that reviews the neuroscience and psychology of how dreams are produced, how they are recalled and their relationship to waking life events and concerns of the dreamer. Featuring beautiful original artwork based on dream representations, the book delves deeply into what happens when we dream, the works of art we produce when asleep and the relevance of dreaming to science, art and film. The book examines the biological, psychological and social causes of dreaming, and includes recent advances in the study of nightmares and lucid dreaming. It shows how sleep can process memories and that dreams may reflect these processes, but also that dreams can elicit self-disclosure and empathy when they are shared after waking. The playfulness, originality and metaphorical content of dreams also link them to art, and especially to the cultural movement that has most valued dreams – Surrealism. The book details the history of scientific research into dreams, including a re-reading of the two dreams of Freud’s patient, the feminist hero Dora, and also the history of Surrealism and of films that draw on dreams and dream-like processes. Each chapter starts with a dream narrative and accompanying painting of the dream to highlight aspects of each of the chapter themes. This highly engaging book will be relevant to researchers, students and lecturers in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, psychoanalysis, consciousness and social evolution. It will also be of value within the study and practice of visual art, design and film, and will be of interest to the general reader and anyone who holds a personal interest in their own dreams.

This fascinating reference covers the major topics concerning dreaming and sleep, based on the latest empirical evidence from sleep research as well as drawn from a broad range of dream-related interdisciplinary contexts, including history and anthropology. While many books have been written on the subject of sleep and dreams, no other resource has provided the depth of empirical evidence concerning sleep and dream phenomena nor revealed the latest scientific breakthroughs in the field. Encyclopedia of Sleep and Dreams: The Evolution, Function, Nature, and Mysteries of Slumber explores the evolution, nature, and functions of sleep and dreams. The encyclopedia is divided into two volumes and is arranged alphabetically by entry. Topics include nightmares and their treatment, how sleep and dreams change across the lifetime, and the new field of evolution of sleep and dream. While this book includes ample material on the science of sleep and dreams, content is drawn from a broad range of disciplinary contexts, including history and anthropology.

How and why does the sleeping brain generate dreams? Though the question is old, a paradigm shift is now occurring in the science of sleep and dreaming that is making room for new answers. From brainstem-based models of sleep cycle control, research is moving toward combined brainstem/forebrain models of sleep cognition itself. The book presents five papers by leading scientists at the center of the current firmament, and more than seventy-five commentaries on those papers by nearly all of the other leading authorities in the field. Topics include mechanisms of dreaming and REM sleep, memory consolidation in REM sleep, and an evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming. The papers and commentaries, together with the authors' rejoinders, represent a huge leap forward in our understanding of the sleeping and dreaming brain. The book's multidisciplinary perspective will appeal to students and researchers in neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychology.

In the late nineteenth century, dreams became the subject of scientific study for the first time, after thousands of years of being considered a primarily spiritual phenomenon. Before Freud and the rise of psychoanalytic interpretation as the dominant mode of studying dreams, an international group of physicians, physiologists, and psychiatrists pioneered scientific models of dreaming. Collecting data from interviews, structured observation, surveys, and their own dream diaries, these scholars produced a large body of early research on the sleeping brain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book uncovers an array of case studies from this overlooked period of dream scholarship. With contributors working across the disciplines of psychology, history, literature, and cultural studies, it highlights continuities and ruptures in the history of scientific inquiry into dreams.