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The Nocturnal Brain
- Tales of Nightmares and Neuroscience
- Narrated by: Dr Guy Leschziner
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
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The Nocturnal Brain
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Summary
For Guy Leschziner's patients, there is no rest for the weary in mind and body. Insomnia, narcolepsy, night terrors, apnoea and sleepwalking are just a sample of the conditions afflicting sufferers who cannot sleep – and their experiences in trying to are the stuff of nightmares. Demonaic hallucinations frighten people into paralysis. Restless legs rock both the sleepless and their sleeping partners with unpredictable and uncontrollable kicking. Out-of-sync circadian rhythms confuse the natural body clock's days and nights.
Then there are the extreme cases. A woman in a state of deep sleep who gets dressed, unlocks her car and drives for several miles before returning to bed. The man who has spent decades cleaning out kitchens while 'sleep-eating'. The teenager prone to the serious, yet unfortunately nicknamed, Sleeping Beauty Syndrome, stuck in a cycle of excessive unconsciousness, binge eating and uncharacteristic displays of aggression and hypersexuality while awake.
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 that will not only maintain our physical and mental health, but also improve our cognitive abilities and overall happiness.
Critic reviews
"With my job on Today, I have become obsessed with sleep. The Nocturnal Brain 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)
"Casebooks of neurological disorders are often strange and wonderful, but this one is special." (Sunday Times)
"The Nocturnal Brain will not promise to cure your insomnia, but it does make for an entertaining and thought-provoking bedtime read." (The Guardian)
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What listeners say about The Nocturnal Brain
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs S.
- 21-04-20
Fascinating !
A truly fascinating read.
Originally I bought this book on a whim, thinking it would probably be way above me, but not so thanks to Dr Guy Leschziner ability’s to impart knowledge.
Dr Guy Leschziner explains fully everything in such a way that can be understood so long as you have some basic understanding of human biology and an insatiable appetite for the unusual, I’m sure that anything else your not too familiar with can be cross referenced fairly easily.
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone either coping themselves with an unusual sleep pattern or indeed anyone coping with someone else’s unusual sleep pattern !
Brilliant, very definitely worth 5 stars.
Thank you Dr Leschziner, this subject is clearly a passion rather than just a specialty to you and I hope you continue to investigate further and to pass on your knowledge regularly.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-08-21
brilliant
absolutely loved this book .. could not stop listening .. binge listened over two sittings
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-03-23
fascinating!!!
loved it. loved the narration. the subject is so complex . answered many questions. opened up many more
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. Ronald Wild
- 16-06-21
Fascinating.
I never realised just how intricate sleep was, nor how many disorders there were.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you have a sleep disorder or not.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J
- 15-07-22
A totally worthwhile listen
The narration is as good as the research and writing itself, which I don’t think is necessarily expected from the authors but in this case I think it’s a gift!
I’m fascinated by both sleep and the brain and I think this book satisfied my intellectual cravings just right. But on a more important note, this is the first time I’ve ever come across my particular type of epilepsy in a book. Epilepsy is a common condition but my type is relatively rare, so this feels huge. I have thanked the author personally but I thought I should mention it here too. Can’t recommend this book enough!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elizabeth Clark
- 03-02-20
Fantastic book not at all what I expected
Loved the narrators voice - always a plus, great content . Thought it was going to be a bit mundane but really interesting mix of medical case notes and story telling. Went way beyond stop drinking coffee and Diet Coke.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Claire Hope
- 09-10-21
Loved by a Psychology teacher
I teach Biopsychology and this book was absolutely fascinating from the perspective of knowing a little bit about sleep already. Despite this, I learnt so much and it’s extremely engaging through the lens of learning about sleep disorders whilst also teaching you the biology behind it. Would highly recommend!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Katie L
- 11-06-21
Interesting
It is an interesting book. So far (I'm a few chapters in) it mainly discusses case studies of people with sleep issues that the author has worked with. My only criticism would be that it's kind of a weird mix of scientific book vs novel, with elaborate descriptions of people and places to "set the scene". This may suit some people but for me it's a bit jarring. Not quite what I expected, but still interesting to listen to.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 15-01-22
Fascinating, a great listen
Really enjoyed this audio book. Fascinating subjects, read by the author with great compassion for his patients
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chaiman22
- 15-04-21
Highly Informative
A good contribution to our understanding of sleep at this time. The author reads well and the writing breaths life, tension and humour into a subject that could be lost in technicalities. An excellent read.
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