The Mind At Night: The New Science Of How And Why We Dream [Hardcover]

Andrea Rock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2004

Over 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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This exceptionally lucid and engaging work of science writing explicates breakthroughs in the study of the dreaming mind from the 1950s to the present day. Rock, an award-winning medical and science reporter, proves a crisp and thorough storyteller as she portrays the professional tensions among scientific innovators and delineates theoretical controversies (in which the legacy of Freud looms large). She frequently cites interviews with neuroscientists and psychologists, bringing out the drama of their intellectual struggles. Opening with the discovery of the REM phase of sleep by a lowly University of Chicago graduate student, Rock charts the subsequent explosion in dream research: investigations into the roles of different parts of the brain in dreaming; theories of animal dreaming and the evolutionary history of dreaming; the nature of memory; and the neurological relationships among dreaming, mental illness and consciousness itself. Examples of dreams are kept to a relevant minimum, but many statistics of interest are reported. In Rock's concluding chapters, a seamlessly narrated account of a period of sustained scientific focus on the dreaming mind eases into a broader discussion of the function of dreaming in the context of contemporary scientific findings and beliefs. Here Rock discourages simplistic dream-symbol decoding in favor of a more complex approach enlightened by present-day theories.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A well-written often entertaining look inside the mind." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Exceptionally lucid and engaging work of science writing." (Publishers Weekly) -- starred review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1st edition (March 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738207551
• ISBN-13: 978-0738207551
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #863,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dream of a Book, March 9, 2004

By 

Barbara Bedway (Nyack, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mind At Night: The New Science Of How And Why We Dream (Hardcover)

What is the brain's true mission at night? Andrea Rock chronicles the astoundingly varied research by scientists in labs around the world who--aided by by new technologies that enable us to actually see the brain at work--have discovered undreamed of reasons for the mind to carry out its nightly visual odyssey.

Along the way, you'll learn about the unusual sleep pattern of dolphins (only one hemisphere of their brain sleeps at a time); why the functional anatomy of dreaming is almost identical to that of schizophrenic psychosis; how dreaming may serve as a kind of internal therapist, helping us to integrate the emotional experiences from the day; and why that pecuiliar egg-laying mammal known as the spiny anteater may be the key to knowing when the world's first dream could have appeared.

The Mind at Night is itself a dream of a book--its vast research woven into an elegant and quite thrilling narrative of scientists in pursuit of their Holy Grail: an understanding not only of dreams, but of the very nature of consciousness itself.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, March 4, 2004

By 

Amy (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mind At Night: The New Science Of How And Why We Dream (Hardcover)

This book is incredible. I couldn't put it down because I couldn't wait to find out what would be revealed in the coming pages. It's one of those books like "Chaos" or "Guns, Germs and Steel" that changes how you look at the world. What you discover about about how the brain works is amazing. For the first time, I sent an email out to a bunch of friends recommending a book. I did so because I thought so many of them would find it fascinating. On a sentence, paragraph and idea basis, it just flows. It's so alive , so easy to read, and SO INTERESTING.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Readable Overview of Cutting Edge Dream Research, July 1, 2008

By 

C. Gruver (TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mind at Night: The New Science of How and Why We Dream (Paperback)

This book is one of the most interesting non-fiction books that I have read in the last few years. The subject matter (dreaming) is inherently interesting, but some of the science is complicated and theoretical. On some level, Ms. Rock has to assist the reader in understanding various parts of the brain (limbic, brain stem, pre-fontal lobe, etc.) as well as psychology (Freud and others). Much of the research that she is using is very recent, so many open issues remain. Despite these hurdles, she makes the book understandable to an interested layperson without dumbing it down too much.

I particularly enjoyed the way that she presented one approach to the study of dreams per chapter. Each chapter builds and explains the previous ones, as the research becomes more and more recent. Ms. Rock also introduces the reader to the personalities behind these cutting-edge scientists.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand the dream stage (as well as consciousness generally). It is not, however, a self-help book. Other than a few tips on lucid dreaming, it is a 'why' and 'what' book, not a 'how' book.