Dream Life - An Experimental Memoir

J. Allan Hobson is Professor of Psychiatry, Emeritus, at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of The Dreaming Brain: How the Brain Creates Both the Sense and the Nonsense of Dreams, Dreaming as Delirium: How the Brain Goes Out of Its Mind (MIT Press, 1999), The Dream Drugstore: Chemically Altered States of Consciousness (MIT Press, 1999, 2001), and other books

"Aiming squarely at Freud, Hobson and a succession of collaborators documented people's sleep cycles, monitored their brain waves, and tracked chemical changes in the brain. In a series of books driven by five decades of research, Hobson argued that what's really happening when we dream is that our forebrains -- the center of thinking and memory -- are offline, while our visual, auditory, and emotional centers are not only online, but lit up. Bizarre and powerful dreams aren't caused by repressed desire, he argued, but by biology. Dreams may be fun to think about, but they're really just a side effect of sleep." Boston Globe Many scientists write lay expositions of their research. Others do memoirs. Hobson, one of the world's most eminent sleep researchers, provides a unique amalgam. He recounts his life history, employing diverse episodes to convey insights into brain function. Hobson is frank to a fault, baring painful personal traumas - including his stroke, heart failure, and marital infidelities - all as learning moments for the reader. The resulting volume is as engrossing as a detective story, emotionally moving, and teaches far better than any textbook. Every scientist, physician, and curious lay reader will wish to devour this succulent brain food. Solomon H. Snyder, M.D.