The Twenty-four Hour Mind
Price:
$27.95 (5T)Description
In January of 1997, an otherwise nonviolent man under great stress at work brutally murdered his wife in their backyard. He then went back to bed, awakening only when police entered his home. He claimed to have no memory of the event because, while his body was awake at the time, his mind was not. He had been sleepwalking.In The Twenty-four Hour Mind, sleep scientist Rosalind Cartwright brings together decades of research into the bizarre sleep disorders known as parasomnias to propose a new theory of how the human mind works consistently throughout waking and sleeping hours. Thanks to increasingly sophisticated EEG and brain imaging technologies, we now know that our minds do not simply "turn off" during sleep. Rather, they continue to be active, and research has indicated that one of the primary purposes of sleep is to aid in regulating emotions and processing experiences that occur during preceding waking hours. As such, when sleep is neurologically or genetically impaired or just too short, the processes that good sleep facilitates--those that usually have a positive effect on our mood and performance--can short circuit, with negative results that occasionally reach tragic proportions. Examining the interactions between conscious and unconscious forms of thinking as they proceed throughout the cycles of sleeping, dreaming, and waking, Cartwright demystifies the inner workings of the human mind that trigger sleep problems, how researchers are working to control them, and how they can apply what they learn to further our understanding of the brain. Along the way, she provides a lively account of the history of sleep research and the birth of sleep medicine that will initiate readers into this fascinating field of inquiry and the far-reaching implications it will have on the future of neuroscience. The Twenty-four Hour Mind offers a unique look at a relatively new area of study that will be of interest to those with and without sleep problems, as well as anyone captivated by the mysteries of the brain--and what sleep continues to teach us about the waking mind.
Features
- A fascinating account of the history of sleep research and how the specialty of sleep medicine was born, from one of the pioneers of the field
- Relates brain and sleep research findings in easy-to-understand layman's terms
- Reveals the author's work with individuals accused of murder and other crimes allegedly committed while sleepwalking
Reviews
"Professor Rosalind Cartwright is a true pioneer of sleep research. She was there in the field's formative years and her particular interest in the function and meaning of dreams is reflected in a record of high-quality scientific publications spanning more than four decades. In The Twenty-four Hour Mind, Cartwright describes both her research as well as that of many other sleep scientists in an exciting, eminently readable and thought provoking narrative. She examines numerous important and intriguing topics, including insomnia, depression, sleep walking, forensic sleep medicine and the role of dreams in human consciousness. In her Introduction, Cartwright writes, 'Come Along. I promise it will be an interesting ride.' The Twenty-four Hour Mind is a promise well kept!"--Michael V. Vitiello, University of Washington, Seattle, and Past President, Sleep Research Society
"Rosalind Cartwright has been a leader among psychologists and psychiatrists trying to tease out the purpose of thoughts and images of dreams. Her excellence as a scientist and clinician has earned her the title of Queen of Dreams. Her book takes us across a panorama of laboratory studies and clinical areas. In a reader friendly fashion, she ranges from REM deprivation and dream categorizing studies to the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia, the role of depression in sleep, and the exotica of sleep walking and REM state aggression."--Wilse B. Webb, Department of Psychology, University of Florida
"Cartwright's accounts of the earliest and most contemporary laboratory tests of the sleeping and dreaming mind are informative and absorbing; she has a personal, informal style that treats the reader to insights on the unfolding nature of experimental methods and of working with patients. Her descriptions of patients, perpetrators, and her participation as a witness for the defense are spellbinding. In the end, Cartwright entwines the threads of this narrative into a tapestry explaining the role of the active sleeping mind in our daily mental health and healing."--Mary A. Carskadon, E.P. Bradley Hospital and Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University
"Cartwright has been involved as an expert witness in several legal cases involving crimes committed apparently during sleep--including that of a man who killed his wife during a sleepwalking episode. The case is described in great detail, and Cartwright invites us to consider the legal and ethical aspects of sleep disorders. To what extent are we responsible for actions we committed while asleep? And how can we be sure, and convince others, that we were indeed sleeping?"--Ernest Hartmann, author of Dreams and Nightmares and The Nature and Functions of Dreaming
"An engaging account of the history of sleep research. [Cartwright] skillfully weaves in her 50 years' worth of work in the field, delving into her own theories about the purpose of dreams and highlighting the importance of sleep to maintain our physical and mental well-being."--Scientific American Mind
"This very absorbing and beautifully written book describes cogently some of the psychophysical aspects of sleep and how our present understanding of them has been reached, and in doing so underscores just how much remains outside our comprehension. It also reviews the illustrious career of one of the pioneers in sleep research, compelling in its own right. Readers interested in either will not be disappointed. " --Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine
"A respected pioneer in the field, Professor Cartwright is the leading authority on the role of sleep and dreaming in our emotional lives. Her unique and personal experience as a researcher, clinician, teacher, and sleep expert in court cases involving murder and other acts of non-lethal aggression makes this book a captivating read...I highly recommend it as the go-to source for reviewing important dream and sleep studies, fascinating clinical cases, and what we have learned about the sleeping mind-body connection along the way." --Doody's
"Rosalind Cartwright, a well-respected sleep researcher and therapist, presents a strong argument for viewing sleep and its resulting dreams in a new light that is reflected in the title of her book, The Twenty-Four Hour Mind: The Role of Sleep and Dreaming in Our Emotional Lives... The combination of sleep research and clinical analysis that Cartwright brings to The Twenty-Four Hour Mind should be of interest to a broad audience. It is well written and should be generally appreciated because most of us have a self-interest in a better understanding of the mysteries of sleep." --PsycCRITIQUES
"This is an easy-to-read, interesting, and informative book about the neurophysiology, purposes, and meanings of sleep and dreaming...Often surprising, and richly informative." --JAMA
"The work is focused and concise, emphasizing the author's own contributions and career experiences to a greater degree than the large corpus of research pertinent to the question of sleep/dream function. It is therefore an excellent primer for the sleep neophyte, an informed guidebook for the practicing clinician, and a solid review of Cartwright's theoretical position on the function of sleep and dreaming. Readers should be better able to appreciate the '24-hr mind' theory as an increasingly valid perspective in the ever-growing field of nocturnal neuroscience." -- SLEEP
About the Author(s)
Rosalind D. Cartwright is Professor Emeritus of Rush University Medical Center's Graduate College Neuroscience Division, and was chair of the College's Department of Behavioral Sciences until 2008. In 1978 she founded the first Sleep Disorder Service and Research Center to be accredited in the state of Illinois. She is the author of numerous journal articles and several books, and has served as an expert witness in sleep-related criminal cases, including one murder trial.
