Sleep and Dreaming

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. Furthermore, advances in philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, artificial intelligence, neural network modeling, psychophysiology, neurobiology, and clinical medicine make this a propitious time to review and bridge the gaps among these fields as they relate to sleep and dream research. This 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 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, ultimately offering new and unique views of consciousness and cognition. They help provide new answers to both old and new questions, based on the latest findings in modern brain research. The book’s multidisciplinary perspective will appeal to students and researchers in neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychology.