Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
My first contact with "the other" Jerome Siegel came in 1973, when I moved to Los Angeles to do postdoctoral work at UCLA. My thesis work had been listed in a nationally available posting without any address. The Brain Inf- mation Service, thinking they knew where I was, listed "the other" Jerome Siegel's Delaware address for reprint requests. I soon received a letter from Jerry along with the requests he had received and we have remained in c- tact ever since. I am occasionally reminded of my namesake when I meet a new colleague who is impressed that someone "so young" published a paper in Science in 1965 (one year out of high school, if it had been me). I entered the field in the early 1970s just as he left. My interests in REM sleep and brainstem mechanisms have been eerily similar to his (and he also did po- doctoral work at UCLA), so our research contributions can be distinguished easily only by my use of my middle initial (which has occasionally been om- ted from my publications). So, my namesake and I both have an interest in seeing to it that no one "brings shame to the name. " The current work certainly fulfills that dictum. This is a very unusual book, both in its scope and in its approach to the - terial.
Synopsis
Why we need to sleep is not actually known, but it is a topic that continues to intrigue us. The author takes an historical approach to the subject and presents a largely chronological view of sleep research. Parts one and two describe the main historical figures and their various theories and discoveries. Part three describes our current state of knowledge of sleep and waking. This book is readable by anyone who has some introductory biology or psychology, it will also make an excellent book for anyone taking a course on sleep.
Table of Contents
Preface * Acknowledgements * A Brief Synopsis of Neuroanatomy * Technological Developments * Early Research on Brain Mechanisms of Sleep and Waking * The Discovery of the Ascending Reticular Activating System * The Neural Pathways that Produce Arousal * Forebrain and Hindbrain Inhibition of the Reticular Activating System * EEG Synchrony and Behavioral Inhibition * Cellular Mechanisms and Neural Circuits that Produce Sleep * Sleep Factors * Sleep as a Circadian Rhythm * The Discover of REM Sleep * The Neural Control of REM Sleep * Theories of Sleep and Waking * Disorders of Sleep and Waking * References * Abbreviations * Glossary * Index