Dreaming as Delirium: How the Brain Goes Out of Its Mind [Paperback]

J. Allan Hobson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262581795 | ISBN-13: 978-0262581790 | Publication Date: November 12, 1999

with a new foreword by the author


In this book J. Allan Hobson sets out a compelling—and controversial—theory of consciousness. Our brain-mind, as he calls it, is not a fixed identity but a dynamic balancing act between the chemical systems that regulate waking and dreaming. Drawing on his work both as a sleep researcher and as a psychiatrist, Hobson looks in particular at the strikingly similar chemical characteristics of the states of dreaming and psychosis. His underlying theme is that the form of our thoughts, emotions, dreams, and memories derive from specific nerve cells and electrochemical impulses described by neuroscientists. Among the questions Hobson explores are: What are dreams? Do they have any hidden meaning, or are they simply emotionally salient images whose peculiar narrative structure refects the unique neurophysiology of sleep? And what is the relationship between the delirium of our dream life and psychosis?

Originally published by Little, Brown under the title The Chemistry of Conscious States.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A cigar is just a cigar again! Psychiatrist and neurophysiologist J. Allan Hobson rouses us from our self-absorption in Dreaming as Delirium, an exploration of what neuroscience has pieced together about our sleeping lives. Freud, after all, was first a neurologist, turning to his theories of symbolic wish fulfillment to cover gaps in contemporary knowledge. While those gaps remain, they narrow a bit each year, and Hobson's unique clinical perspective gives him great insight into what might lie in their depths. Writing with humanistic charm, he weaves personal stories, clinical narrative, and research findings into a wide-ranging theory encompassing attention, desire, motivation, and our nearly desperate need for coherence. Ironically, this need drives us to tell ourselves the craziest stories at night--perhaps, he suggests, because we are experiencing sensations similar to those of hallucinating schizophrenics. While far from conclusive, the evidence Hobson presents strongly suggests that we are closing in on one of the most oldest and most elusive mysteries in human experience. Thoughtful and wise, Dreaming as Delirium shows the reader that hard science can reach the depths of our souls and make us more human, not less. --Rob Lightner

Review

"With the patience of a wise, experienced guide [Hobson] weaves together the strands of evidence gathered from a bewildering variety of sources-using very little jargon but many illustrative stories about his own life and the lives of his patients. What emerges is nothing less than the outline of a unified model of the brain and the mind."
—The New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (November 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262581795
• ISBN-13: 978-0262581790
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,062,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable and makes you want to learn more., July 31, 2010

By 

Melissa AMP (Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreaming as Delirium: How the Brain Goes Out of Its Mind (Paperback)

After reading this book you want to talk about it and learn more about the topic. I don't think it has answers but it makes you ask more interesting questions. It is a very honest book and has an authentic quality that many books in this area lack.

5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleased!, April 10, 2000

By 

S. (United States of America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreaming as Delirium: How the Brain Goes Out of Its Mind (Paperback)

It's me again...I've finished the book and am doubly pleased! This book provided me with much insight into the distinction between the concious and the unconcious states we live in each day. The book is also very informative if you are wondering how our own brain chemicals and outside chemicals react and have effect on each other. Being that I am a doctor in training and am contemplating the continuation of my education in neuroscience, I have found this book to be quite well worth reading...and the fact that I have just begun to learn about medicine, and am not familiar with all terminology and explaination, makes this book great for even the general public/anyone simply interested in the subject. I give it all five stars! <Sarah>

4 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleased, February 28, 2000

By 

S. (United States of America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreaming as Delirium: How the Brain Goes Out of Its Mind (Paperback)

I have not quite finished the book yet(as I have only had it for a few days), however, I am intrigued! In opposition to the other review from France, it seems as though Dr. Hobson knows a great deal on the subject. Besides, the man has been studying neuropsych. for 30 years. His knowledge obviously reflects his hard work and observation. Furthermore, "organization" is spelled with a "z," not an "s."