Review: When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep

When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep by Antonio Zadra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have always avoided books about dreams before, as although I find the whole topic interesting (I’m a lucid dreamer), I’m highly sceptical of dream interpretation. However, this book sounded like it approached things from a scientific perspective, so I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did.

This book first covers some of the history of dream research, and previous theories about why we dream. This was all interesting to me, as I’ve never read about dreams previously. I feel that it would also be useful summary for those who have read other books on the topic.

The book then moves on to discuss what dreaming is, possible reasons why the brain dreams, and then moves on to cover the authors’ theory of dreaming. To me, it presents a compelling argument, NEXTUP seems like a plausible explanation for most dream phenomena, and why we have evolved to dream at all.

There are then chapters on various aspects of dreaming, and sleep disorders, including a discussion of ESP and precognition, as they relate to dreaming.

Overall, this was a fascinating insight into an aspect of how our brains function. I felt that the authors did a good job of remaining relatively unbiased, presenting the current evidence and their own theory. The summary at the end was great, a reminder of everything covered, and a look ahead. I’d recommend this book both to people who know nothing (apart from their own experience) about dreams, and to those with more knowledge.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

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