The Brain Never Sleeps - by Karen Van Kampen (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

We all dream, but do we know why we dream? Discover what goes on behind our eyelids and what it means for our health.

Do you have common recurring dreams of missing an exam, even though it has been years since you were in college? Do certain people keep showing up in your dreams? How can you stop your dreaming brain from fixating on the same preoccupations and concerns? We spend every night of our lives dreaming, yet we remain unaware of the power and possibilities of accessing the inner sanctum of our minds.

In The Brain Never Sleeps, Karen van Kampen guides us on a journey through dreamland, sharing how we can reclaim this other realm of thought and experience to improve our well-being. Our dreams are as real to us as our waking experiences. They have the power to influence what we think, feel and do. With our dreaming brain operating in a different mode, disconnected from the demands and distractions of daily life, we brainstorm new ideas, face our fears and uncover insights into ourselves. Van Kampen, whose father opened one of the first independent sleep laboratories in North America, acts as a unique and informed guide, combining first-person narrative with highly accessible science journalism.

Van Kampen investigates neuroscience and psychology to reveal the connection between our waking and dreaming lives while also exploring what happens when people get stuck in between--the mixed brain state of parasomnias including sleepwalking and night terrors. Through the fascinating stories of dream scientists, we learn how dreams boost learning, spark creativity and process emotions. Van Kampen conducts her own dream experiments with expert researchers as her guides. The Brain Never Sleeps propels us into the next frontier of dream engineering where we can guide our dreams with the hope of improving our well-being. Her toolkit at the end of the book offers simple ways to use dreams to improve our waking and dreaming lives.

The Brain Never Sleeps is a personal and enlightening journey that will change how we understand and value our nocturnal wanderings.

Review Quotes

"The Brain Never Sleeps invites you into the mysterious world of dreams -- where science meets imagination and the mind opens a window into its inner life. Drawing on vivid stories and the latest research, van Kampen reveals how our nightly visions help us process emotions, strengthen memory, and spark creativity. A must-read for anyone fascinated by the art and science of dreams."
-- ANTONIO ZADRA, co-author of When Brains Dream: Understanding the Science and Mystery of our Dreaming Minds

"A beautifully written and clear description of all aspects of research into dreaming. From the brain, to dream content, types of dreams, dream analysis, disorders of sleep and dreaming, and the technology now being used to alter our dreams. Theories of why we dream, debates, experiments, and the history of dream research are explained well, and with captivating and enlightening interviews with the major dream researchers from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."
-- MARK BLAGROVE, PhD, co-author of The Science and Art of Dreaming

"If you've always puzzled over your dreams (and who hasn't?) then read this book. From Freud and Jung (and even before) to the latest insights gathered from the sleep lab, you will definitely get a new perspective on those wild dead-of-night adventures. They seem to make little sense; if you agree, and that leads you to believe your dreams are meaningless, this book might just change your mind."
-- JAY INGRAM, author of The Science of Pets and The Future of Us

"Most of us make no special effort to remember our dreams, much less understand what they mean. But to others, dreams can be a potent source of reflection and inspiration. Science writer Karen van Kampen's thorough exploration of dreams, their origins, and their functional significance, will help curious readers make more of the visions, emotions, and questions brought up by their own sleepy experiences."
-- DAN RISKIN, PhD, Science Journalist and TV Host, and author of Mother Nature Is Trying to Kill You

"In this delightful and well-researched book, Karen van Kampen brings a child's sense of wonder and a journalist's keen eye to the modern study of dreams. With a flair for storytelling and an instinct for telling detail, she leads readers from the basics of sleep science and dream interpretation to the spiritual mysteries of 'big dreams' and the ethically fraught frontiers of dream-enhancing technologies. You couldn't ask for a better state-of-the-art review of the most important and intriguing findings of current dream research."
-- KELLY BULKELEY, PhD and author of Big Dreams

About the Author

Karen van Kampen is an author and award-winning journalist who specializes in health and science. Her interest in dreams began at the age of nine when her dad opened one of the first independent sleep laboratories in Canada. Van Kampen was his first lab assistant, practicing electrode hook-up and testing, and she went on to direct operations and corporate development for the lab for fifteen years. Van Kampen is the author of The Golden Cell: The Quest for the Next Great Medical Breakthrough, which garnered extensive media coverage. Her writing has appeared in many publications including The Globe and Mail, National Post, Flare magazine, and Reader's Digest. Previously, she was managing editor of National Post Business magazine and a features editor at Chatelaine magazine. She holds a Master of Health Science (MHSc) in health administration from the University of Toronto.