The Science and Art of Dreaming

The Science and Art of Dreaming is an innovative text that reviews the neuroscience and psychology of how dreams are produced, how they are recalled and their relationship to waking life events and concerns of the dreamer. Featuring beautiful original artwork based on dream representations, the book delves deeply into what happens when we dream, the works of art we produce when asleep and the relevance of dreaming to science, art and film. The book examines the biological, psychological and social causes of dreaming, and includes recent advances in the study of nightmares and lucid dreaming. It shows how sleep can process memories and that dreams may reflect these processes, but also that dreams can elicit self-disclosure and empathy when they are shared after waking. The playfulness, originality and metaphorical content of dreams also link them to art, and especially to the cultural movement that has most valued dreams - Surrealism. The book details the history of scientific research into dreams, including a re-reading of the two dreams of Freud's patient, the feminist hero Dora, and also the history of Surrealism and of films that draw on dreams and dream-like processes. Each chapter starts with a dream narrative and accompanying painting of the dream to highlight aspects of each of the chapter themes. This highly engaging book will be relevant to researchers, students and lecturers in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, psychoanalysis, consciousness and social evolution. It will also be of value within the study and practice of visual art, design and film, and will be of interest to the general reader and anyone who holds a personal interest in their own dreams.

Mark Blagrove is a Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Sleep Laboratory at Swansea University, UK. Julia Lockheart is an Associate Professor at Swansea College of Art, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, and an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Design, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.

1. What are Dreams and What Affects Dream Content? 2. Why do Some People Recall Dreams More than Others? 3. Nightmares. 4. Sleep. 5. Sleep and Memory. 6. Dreaming and the Brain. 7. Lucid Dreams. 8. Freud, Psychoanalysis and Dreams. 9. Freud and Dora. 10. How to Find Meaning in Dreams: the Montague Ullman Dream Appreciation Technique. 11. Dreaming and Insight. 12. Functions and Theories of Dreams. 13. Dream-Sharing and Empathy, a New Theory of Dream Function. 14. The DreamsID Science and Art Collaboration: Surrealism and the Socialising of Dreams. 15. Sleep and Dreaming During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Exploring and Painting Covid-19 and Lockdown Dreams. 16. Dreaming, Films and Surrealism. 17. Dream-Sharing, Evolution and Human Self-Domestication. 18. Conclusions and Summary. 19. References.