The Neuroscience of Sleep and Dreams provides comprehensive coverage of the basic neuroscience of both sleep and dreams for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students. It details new scientific discoveries, places those discoveries within evolutionary context, and links established findings with implications for sleep medicine. This second edition focuses on recent developments in the social nature of sleep and dreams. Coverage includes the neuroscience of all stages of sleep; the lifespan development of these sleep stages; the role of non-REM and REM sleep in health and mental health; comparative sleep; biological rhythms; sleep disorders; sleep memory; dream content; dream phenomenology, and dream functions. Students, scientists, and interested non-specialists will find this book accessible and informative.

‘This book offers neuroscience's cutting-edge answers to age old questions about sleep and dreams. Patrick McNamara explains research findings in enough detail for the beginner, but with enough depth for the practicing neuroscientist who wants to catch up on these areas. I recommend it enthusiastically to all who want a solid scientific perspective on sleep and dreams.'

Deirdre Barrett - author of The Committee of Sleep and Pandemic Dreams

‘In our increasingly sleep- and dream-deprived world, McNamara's book stands out as a refreshing, authoritatively sourced, and decidedly engaging introduction to the neuroscience of sleep and dreaming. Part textbook and part trade book, it appeals both to serious students of sleep/dream science and to the educated lay public. This second edition of an already successful book adds considerable new material germane to explaining the neurobiology and functions of sleep and dreaming across the lifespan and how these phenomena are central to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle.'

Tore Nielsen - University of Montreal, Canada

‘This book is a wonderfully accessible and much needed resource for students, teachers, and the general public. The sleep and dream sciences are rapidly expanding but have been underrepresented in psychology and neuroscience textbooks for higher education. This volume goes a great distance toward filling this gap! Adding to the solid background in sleep science provided in the first edition, this second edition presents many of the newer findings in this burgeoning field. Dr McNamara's fascinating incorporation of social and evolutionary neuroscience is certain to further engage readers from diverse backgrounds.'

Edward F. Pace-Schott - Harvard Medical School, USA