Understanding Sleep and Dreaming

Praise for the First Edition:

"Although sleep has been the subject of serious study for several decades, there has not been available an integrated, introductory text for more than 10 years. Understanding Sleep and Dreaming fills this need with complete coverage of all aspects of sleep, dreaming, and sleep disorders, and is comprehensible as well as comprehensive. In accessible language, this text reviews the basic physiological mechanisms of sleep and the intertwined psychological ramifications. Most important, it is up to date, containing the latest information on the influence of orexin/hypocretin, nocturnal eating syndrome, the local cell theory of sleep, the effects of sleep deprivation, and the advantages of delaying school start times for teenagers. Distilling 25 years of combined clinical, research, and teaching experience, Dr. Moorcroft has created an excellent text for undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals, as well as for the general reader who wants a better understanding of the sleep process and its disorders."
Janet M. Dunn, MD, Rush University Medical Center

Sleep is compelling―we cannot do without it. Until recently there have been many mysteries and misunderstandings about sleep and the dreams that accompany it. In recent years scientists have turned greater attention to sleep and dreaming resulting in greater understanding of what they are and how they work, leading to more informed speculations about their functions.

The updated Second Edition of Understanding Sleep and Dreaming distills what has been discovered about―and dispels misunderstandings about―the range of physiological and psychological phenomena associated with these vital functions. Geared toward student readers but also informative for professional and general readers, this accessible book delves into all major aspects of sleep, its stages, and its deprivation; takes a developmental view of sleep patterns and needs; and reviews modern theories of dreaming. The author writes with the blended perspective of a professor, researcher, and clinician, featuring vivid details, arresting examples, the minimum of jargon, and a gentle dose of levity. Along the way, the book offers fascinating glimpses into diverse topics such as animal sleep and dream behavior, the history of sleeping arrangements, and why we yawn. Also among the topics examined are: 

• What transpires in a sleep lab.
• The scientific measurement of sleep and sleepiness.
• The relationships between the brain, the body, and sleep.
• The effects of sleeplessness on the human body and cognition.
• What people dream about and why they dream.
• The functions of dreams and dreaming.
• Sleep disturbances and disorders: insomnia, sleep apnea, nightmares, narcolepsy, sleep walking, sleep-eating, and more.

 Such breadth and depth of coverage suits the Second Edition of Understanding Sleep and Dreaming to students and teachers, clinicians and researchers, practitioners and professionals―anyone desiring to be informed about these most basic of human activities.

William H. Moorcroft received his Ph.D. in psychobiology from Princeton University. He started a sleep research laboratory at Luther College in which he studied various aspects of sleep and dreaming. Since his retirement from teaching and research he shifted into a clinical practice of helping people with insomnia, bad dreams and nightmares, and young children with sleep problems by changing thoughts and behaviors rather than drugs. To date he has helped close to 500 people to sleep better. Dr. Moorcroft continues to study, lecture about, write about, and treat sleep, dreaming, and sleep disorders.