This Is Why You Dream
What your sleeping brain reveals about your waking life
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- ¥1,200
発行者による作品情報
A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
'COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED MY WAY OF THINKING ABOUT DREAMS' Jay Shetty
'A JOURNEY THROUGH NEUROSCIENCE, NEUROCHEMISTRY, MAGIC, MYSTERY . . . A FANTASTIC READ' Dr Rangan Chatterjee
'TRANSFORMATIONAL' Julia Samuel
'ELEGANTLY LIFTS THE CURTAIN ON THE DREAMSCAPE TERRITORY' David Eagleman
'THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE' Lewis Howes
'OUR POET LAUREATE OF NEUROSCIENCE' Greg Whyte
'AN INSTANT CLASSIC' Bryan Fogel
Dreams are a source of mystery. They have changed the course of individual lives and the world, spurring business deals, inspiring art and scientific breakthroughs, triggering military invasions and mental breakdowns. Yet the source of dreams is not mysterious. They are the product of an extraordinary transformation that occurs in the brain each night when we sleep.
In this pioneering book, bestselling neurosurgeon Rahul Jandial delves into the dreaming brain and shares stories from his own practice to show the astonishing impact that dreams have on our waking life. He explains how dreaming of an exam might help you score up to 20% higher, why taking a long nap could make you better at problem-solving, and even that certain dream disorders can warn you of serious diseases like Parkinson’s years ahead of other symptoms. He offers clear and compelling advice, backed by new research, to become a lucid dreamer, understand your dreaming patterns and unleash their creative power.
Sharing the very latest discoveries in modern neuroscience, This Is Why You Dream provides answers to some fundamental questions: Why do we dream? How do we dream? What do dreams mean? And perhaps, most importantly, do we sleep in order to dream?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this ho-hum study, neurosurgeon Jandial (Life Lessons from a Brain Surgeon) surveys the science of dreams. When preparing to dream, Jandial writes, the brain first paralyzes the body by releasing neurotransmitters that "effectively switch off motor neurons," then the "Executive Network" (which is "responsible for logic, order, and reality testing") turns off, and finally the "Imagination Network" (which is involved in introspection) activates. Discussing evolutionary theories for why humans dream, Jandial notes that some scientists believe dreams keep the brain active so it can more quickly awaken in case of an emergency, while others suggest that dreams allow humans to "rehearse" responses to negative events so they're more prepared to face them in real life. Elsewhere, Jandial covers nightmares, lucid dreaming, and erotic dreams, the frequency of which depends on "how much of our waking life we spend daydreaming about erotic fantasies." There's some stimulating trivia sprinkled throughout (he notes studies from across the world that have repeatedly found falling, "being attacked or pursued," and being in school are the most common dream themes), but Jandial has an unfortunate tendency to make claims without providing evidence, as when he asserts that "dreams follow rules" ("It's extremely rare for objects to turn into people in our dreams," for instance) without mentioning any supporting research. It's a mixed bag. (Jun.)
