Overview

This work takes the reader on a scientific and sociological tour of the history of sleep and dream research, concluding with the author's own ideas on the function of dreaming. Michel Jouvet tells the story of a handful of neurobiologists, including himself, who pioneered sleep and dream research in the 1950s. He describes the technical and ideological obstacles they faced and opens his own laboratory to the reader, explaining anatomical, biochemical and even genetic techniques. He also touches on psychological, philosophical and metaphysical aspects of sleep and dreaming. A key section of the book is Jouvet's discussion of why we dream. After summarizing Freud's theory of dreams, he contrasts it with late-1990s neurobiological data. Finally, he outlines his own theory about why we dream: to preserve our individuality. Dreaming, claims Jouvet, is necessary for the genetic reprogramming of the brain.

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9780262600408

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Reviews

Exceptional.... Jouvet is a leader today, as he was 40 years ago, in ideas about paradoxical sleep. He appeals for better understanding of the energetics of the brain as the key to understanding sleep, and leaves us with the intriguing theory that paradoxical sleep is a genetically determined iterative reprogramming mechanism to maintain individuality. The more the reader brings to it, the better this book - like all great books - becomes. It will be most appreciated by sleep researchers, particularly those with much experience. For others, it will be an adventure into attempts to understand the still unknown function of paradoxical sleep. - John M. Orem, The Quarterly Review of Biology

Author Information

Michel Jouvet is Emeritus Professor of Experimental Medicine at the University of Lyon, France. He is the author of Le chateau des songes (a novel) and Le grenier des reves (nonfiction).

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