Functions of Sleep
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Ernest Hartmann
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This remarkable book brings together vast amounts of information and knowledge about a question that has always captured man’s imagination: Why do we sleep?
The author begins with a pungent review of historical and contemporary theories of the functions of sleep and of recent research in sleep deprivation and synchronized (non-dreaming) and desynchronized (dreaming) sleep. Citing his own studies, he investigates the reasons for variable sleep patterns and finds that sleep requirements are influenced by differences in personality, as well as age, life style, and mental state. He then explores the effects on sleep of psychological stress, physical and intellectual activity, and the use of drugs and of other chemicals. The different kinds of tiredness and the role of dreaming in sleep function are also studied.
Written clearly enough for the layman to understand, this book is nevertheless a sophisticated theoretical contribution to the literature on sleep. Hartmann combines the rigor of the laboratory scientist with the sensitivity of the clinician. His conclusions offer some fascinating controversial notes on the relationship between the brain and the mind.
The author begins with a pungent review of historical and contemporary theories of the functions of sleep and of recent research in sleep deprivation and synchronized (non-dreaming) and desynchronized (dreaming) sleep. Citing his own studies, he investigates the reasons for variable sleep patterns and finds that sleep requirements are influenced by differences in personality, as well as age, life style, and mental state. He then explores the effects on sleep of psychological stress, physical and intellectual activity, and the use of drugs and of other chemicals. The different kinds of tiredness and the role of dreaming in sleep function are also studied.
Written clearly enough for the layman to understand, this book is nevertheless a sophisticated theoretical contribution to the literature on sleep. Hartmann combines the rigor of the laboratory scientist with the sensitivity of the clinician. His conclusions offer some fascinating controversial notes on the relationship between the brain and the mind.
"This book presents a very readable and relatively comprehensive review of important research on sleep over the past several years. The strong point of the book is its readability and hence its usability by the novice researcher of sleep or the graduate student with interest in this area. It is also an excellent resource book for the sleep research library in that it provides a means whereby technicians and fledgling researchers may efficiently review the current state of knowledge pertaining to the concomitants of sleep. The author has been able to review a vast amount of often confusing research data without becoming disorganized or lost in trivia. He is to be complimented for this."—JAMA
"This little book brilliantly condenses and synthesizes a great deal of the recent data from the sleep laboratories of the United States and abroad. . . . [It] should be of interest to psychoanalysts because it concerns itself largely with the functions of so-called rapid eye movement sleep . . . which is associated with dreaming, as well as with the functions of synchronized or 'S' sleep, also referred to as orthodox or NREM sleep."—Psychoanalytic Quarterly
"This book by a leader in sleep research is packed with recent information: on sleep mechanisms in the brain and electrical and chemical activity during sleep; in individual differences in sleep patterns correlated with pathology, drug states, age, occupation, and mood; and on various other aspects of sleep that may explain this state of consciousness where most of us spend one third of our lives. . . . This is an excellent interdisciplinary review suitable for general as well as subject collections. Highly recommended."—Library Journal
"There appears to be virtually nothing written on the topic of sleep by either sociologists or anthropologists. Dr. Hartmann has certainly given us an opening wedge."—Sociology
"This schort and lucidly written book provides all the basic relevant information for an introduction to sleep research for the layman, and includes accounts of Hartmann's recent work, and a selection of evidence supporting his theory."—New Scientist
"For those who are looking for a highly readable means of getting in touch with the significant findings about sleep and dream research, here it is in a nutshell along with an excellent bibliography."—Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic
"This book presents a very readable and relatively comprehensive review of important research on sleep over the past several years. The strong point of the book is its readability and hence its usability by the novice researcher of sleep or the graduate student with interest in the area. It is also an excellent resource book for the sleep research library in that it provides a means whereby technicians and fledgling researchers may efficiently review the current state of knowledge pertaining to the concomitants of sleep."—Journal of the American Medical Association
"This is a short readable book which should often succeed in interesting and informing the non-expert as well as the specialist. The author has been a prominent worker and prolific writer in the field of sleep research for over a decade."—Nature
ISBN: 9780300017014
Publication Date: September 10, 1973
Publication Date: September 10, 1973
212 pages, 5 1/8 x 8
