Dream Science
1st Edition
Exploring the Forms of Consciousness
Description
Dreaming is the cognitive state uniquely experienced by humans and integral to our creativity, the survival characteristic that allows for the rapid change and innovation that defines our species and provides the basis for our art, philosophy, science, and humanity. Yet there is little empiric or scientific evidence supporting the generally accepted dream-based theories of neuroconsciousness. Dream Science examines the cognitive science of dreaming and offers an evidence-based view of the phenomenon.
Today, such evidence-based breakthroughs in the field of dream science are altering our understanding of consciousness. Different forms of dreaming consciousness occur throughout sleep, and dreamlike states extend into wake. Each dream state is developed on a framework of memories, emotions, representational images, and electrophysiology, amenable to studies utilizing emerging and evolving technology. Dream Science discusses basic insights into the scientific study of dreaming, including the limits to traditional Freudian-based dream theory and the more modern evidence-based science. It also includes coverage of the processes of memory and parasomnias, the sleep-disturbance diagnoses related to dreaming. This comprehensive book is a scientific exploration of the mind-brain interface and a look into the future of dream science.
Key Features
- Provides a more evidence-based approach than any other work on the market
- Single source of integrated information on all aspects of dream science makes this a critical time-saving reference for researchers and clinicians
- Authored by one of the leaders in the field of dream research
Readership
Advanced students and researchers involved in the study of cognitive science, sleep, and dreaming
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Preface: The REMS Equals Dreaming Debacle
Abstract
Urban Myths
Spontaneous Electrical Activity
Clear and Irrefutable Evidence
Neuroconsciousness
The Special Relationship
Melancholic Simpletons
A Slice of the Brain
An All-Time Low
Almost Unstudied
Paradigm Shift
Notes
Chapter 1. Archaeology, Anthropology, and Dreaming
Moving Images - Cave Art
Mimeographs on Fresh Clay
Night Terrors
The Mechanical “Creativeness” of a Lightning Storm
Illumination
Non-Dreaming Neanderthals
The Shadow Play of Consciousness
Notes
Chapter 2. Shamans, Dreams, and Religion
Very Disturbing Dreams
Dreams as Divine Epiphany
The Purkinje Tree: Shamanism and Trance States
Dirty Needles and Dream Ecstasy
Notes
Chapter 3. Dream Philosophy
Unconcealing Dreams
The Dream as a Window into Body and Mind
Memory, Dreaming, and Frontal Lobotomies
The Same Memory Systems are Used in Dreaming and Waking
Descartes’ Many Errors?
Notes
Chapter 4. Studying Dreaming and Consciousness
Beyond the Chinese Room
Pathophysiology
Neurochemical Frog Prophecies and the Control of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
The Electrophysiology of a Storm-Wracked Ocean
Approaching Dream Toads
Notes
Chapter 5. The Forms of Waking Consciousness
Attention-Focused Waking
Default Non-Attentive Waking
The Rhythms of Creativity
The Cognitive Curiosity of Hypnosis
Meditative States
The Altered State of Drowsy Waking
Forming Waking Consciousness
Notes
Chapter 6. The Conscious Forms of Sleep
Controlling Dreaming: Lucidity and Sleep Meditation
Slee
Details
- No. of pages:
- 244
- Language:
- English
- Copyright:
- © Academic Press 2014
- Published:
- 28th February 2014
- Imprint:
- Academic Press
- eBook ISBN:
- 9780124047105
- Hardcover ISBN:
- 9780124046481
About the Author
J. Pagel
JF Pagel has authored more than 170 publications. His basic research addressed the electrophysiology of consciousness, the neurochemistry of sleep and dream, and the role of REM sleep in learning and memory. His clinical work includes proofs for non-dreaming and the requirement of sleep for dream and nightmare, the diagnostic code for nightmare disorder, a definition protocol for dream, and demonstrations that REM sleep and dreaming are doubly dissociable. He has developed approaches to treating insomnia, sleep & altitude, narcolepsy, pediatric parasomnias, and waking somnolence, as well as addressing dream and nightmare use in trauma, art, creativity and filmmaking. He is co-editor of one of the major sleep-medicine texts: Primary Care Sleep Disorders (2007/ 2014). His books include: The Limits of Dream – A Scientific Exploration of the Mind /Brain Interface (2007), Dreaming and Nightmares (ed.) (2010), and Dream Science – Exploring the Forms of Consciousness (2014).
Affiliations and Expertise
University of Colorado, School of Medicine, USA