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    The Nocturnal Brain: Tales of Nightmares and Neuroscience
    Unavailable
    The Nocturnal Brain: Tales of Nightmares and Neuroscience
    Unavailable
    The Nocturnal Brain: Tales of Nightmares and Neuroscience
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Nocturnal Brain: Tales of Nightmares and Neuroscience

    Written by Guy Leschziner

    Narrated by Guy Leschziner

    4/5

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    Unavailable in your country

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    About this audiobook

     For those fascinated by neurology and for fans of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat comes a powerful exploration of the mind during night time. Here are the mysteries of sleep, explained – from known conditions to the extreme.
     
    ‘The Secret World of Sleep interweaves bizarre real life stories with cutting edge neurological science in the true tradition of Oliver Sacks. A fascinating read.' Martha Kearney, BBC Radio 4
     
    World-renowned neurologist and sleep expert, Doctor Guy Leschziner, takes you through various sleep conditions and how they arise and affect people. Insomnia, narcolepsy, night terrors and apnoea are just some of the conditions afflicting those struggling with sleep.

    Then there are the extreme cases. The people frightened into paralysis by hallucinations. The woman in a state of deep sleep who gets dressed and goes for a drive. The teenager with ‘Sleeping Beauty Syndrome’, stuck in a cycle of excessive unconsciousness. The man who cleans out kitchens while 'sleep-eating'.
     
    With compassionate stories of his patients and their conditions, Leschziner illustrates the neuroscience behind our sleeping minds, revealing the many biological and psychological factors necessary in getting the rest needed for health and happiness.

    Pick of the Best Paperbacks - Sunday Times
    Best January Paperbacks - The Times
    Must Read Brain Books 2019 - Forbes Magazine
    The Best Neuroscience Books of 2019 - The Scientist Magazine
    The Best Books of 2019 - New Zealand Herald
    Best 100 Summer Reads 2019 - Sunday Times
    Week's best Science Picks - Nature
    Books of the Year 2019 - Irish Independent
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio UK
    Release dateMar 7, 2019
    ISBN9781471180392
    Unavailable
    The Nocturnal Brain: Tales of Nightmares and Neuroscience
    Author

    Guy Leschziner

    Prof Guy Leschziner is a neurologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, where he leads the internationally renowned Sleep Disorders Centre, one of the largest sleep services in Europe, and  is Professor of Neurology and Sleep Medicine at King’s College London.  Alongside his clinical work, he is the presenter of two series on clinical neuroscience on BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service - Mysteries of Sleep and The Senses - and author of The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience and The Secret World of Sleep. He is also editor of the forthcoming Oxford Specialist Handbook of Sleep Medicine (OUP), and is neurology section editor for Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine (Elsevier).  

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    Reviews for The Nocturnal Brain

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    • 5/5
      The Nocturnal Brain
      5 Stars

      A collection of case studies of patients attending the author's sleep clinic together with the medical and scientific explanations for the various 'lesions', i.e., disorders/conditions presented in each case.

      The book is exceedingly well-written with a narrative style that makes the neurological terminology easy for the layperson to understand.

      The subject matter is utterly fascinating and Dr. Leschziner's presentation, analysis and discussion kept me turning the pages.

      In sum, one of the best non-fiction works I've read.
    • 4/5
      it was an amazing book and easy to understand, to why we sleep by Matthew walker.
    • 4/5
      A very interesting book; a lot of the cases intertwined so it did feel a bit repetitive at times but nonetheless, very informative and insightful if you want to learn about sleep disorders and sleep related topics.
      The best part was how it explained the biology and science behind the jargon, so you weren't made to feel like words are being thrown at you and expected to just understand, like a lot of other science-based books!
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed this very much, non-scary but informative and inspiring. Recommended.
    • 3/5
      Some was interesting a lot was boring could take it or leave it
    • 4/5
      “You can survive longer without food than without sleep. The fact that sleep is fundamental to life is unarguable, but in modern society, at least until recently, we have taken for granted that sleep simply happens, and is a necessary evil to allow us to live our waking lives.”I’ve been plagued by insomnia since I was a teenager, and nothing has ever really resolved the issue, though I’ve tried everything from hypnotherapy to sleeping tablets. It’s something I’ve always just managed, but I am finding as I get older that its having increasingly negative effects. So I was curious as to what I might learn about disordered sleep in The Nocturnal Brain, from neurologist and sleep specialist Dr. Guy Leschziner.In each chapter of The Nocturnal Brain, Leschziner introduces a patient with a particular sleep issue. He provides a case history, presented with commentary from the patient, and explains the diagnosis, causes and subsequent treatment. From snoring to sleep-walking, narcolepsy to night terrors, the disorders examined range from the common to the bizarre, and I found them all quite fascinating.Leschziner has made a good attempt at making the science accessible for a lay person though at times it can become a little dense. What is clear is that for many people sleep is a complicated process. It can be affected by a combination of biological and psychological factors, and as such sleep medicine often requires a multidisciplinary approach.I found The Nocturnal Brain to be an interesting and engaging read, and Leschziner has convinced me to look into arranging a consultation with a sleep specialist.
    • 3/5
      I'm not a doctor so can't really say but all seems a bit sketchy and reaching. Was hoping for more science and fewer curious cases.
    • 4/5
      Thankfully I have never had any issues in sleeping. I put my head on the pillow and almost always I am asleep within a few minutes. I sleep deeply too, I missed the entire Great Storm in 1987 and was totally oblivious to a massive lightning storm that struck an oak tree opposite where I lived. My father has always called it a short course in death…

      Sleep is essential to our health, but no one can say with any conviction exactly why we need it. If we are sleep deprived then there is a finite time that we can survive, hence why it is used as a form of torture. So what happens to our brain at night? A lot of what we can learn about the brain when it is resting is by studying those that struggle with all manner of sleep-related issues.

      Guy Leschzineris well placed to explain these sleep issues as he is the head of the Sleep Disorders Centre at Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospitals. In this book, he explains the various types of disorders that he has come across, such as sleepwalking, apnoea, night terrors and narcolepsy through the stories of the people that he has met and treated. Some of the things that these people have to suffer sound horrendous, paralysis, tremors and hallucinations for example. The story of a lady who would wake in the middle of the night and drive around whilst asleep and be utterly unaware what she was doing is terrifying.

      This book by Leschziner is a fine addition to the discussion and understanding of this little understood habit that we have to undertake every day for our health. His compassionate writing about the people that he is treating will help those that have been suffering from insomnia and other sleeping disorders to understand that they are not alone. There are several books out there now about sleeping. Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker is a really good explanation of why we need sleep and this accessible book is a fine addition to the knowledge of sleep.
    • 3/5
      A neurologist surveys sleep anomalies and conditions he has encountered over the years. There are quite a range on profiles covered each with its unique twist to the functions or malfunctions of the complex brain.Some of the topics are interesting but many lead to a bit of a snoozer here as far as holding ones attention. It is illustrated how vital sleep is to our well being and mental balance. Equally frightening is what can go wrong and one hopes to avoid.
    • 4/5
      An interesting and thought provoking look into many sleep related disorders. I was interested in reading this because I have been having trouble sleeping, off and on, and was curious to see what would be offered in the way of information. I found it wasn't until the last chapter that this was discussed, but the actual stories presented before that chapter, were fascinating.Sleep eating, sleep driving, sleep eating and even sleep sex. Seems like some mammals, these people are the victims of a brain that is only half asleep. The actual cases are presented, how the symptoms manifested, their struggle for answers, and what effect this has had on their lives. The chapter on sleep apnea was quite scary, and many people could have it without knowing. There was also rather disorders presented, which were beyond challenging for all involved.Seems 1 in every 10 persons are inflicted with some type of insomnia. Their are explanations and some suggested ways to counter this. All in all, I'm glad I read this, so many interesting cases presented, and written in a manner that was easy to read and understand.