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  • The Nocturnal Brain

  • Tales of Nightmares and Neuroscience
  • By: Dr Guy Leschziner
  • Narrated by: Dr Guy Leschziner
  • Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (217 ratings)
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The Nocturnal Brain cover art

The Nocturnal Brain

By: Dr Guy Leschziner
Narrated by: Dr Guy Leschziner
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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.

©2019 Dr Guy Leschziner (P)2019 Simon & Schuster UK
  • Unabridged Audiobook

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)

What listeners say about The Nocturnal Brain

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen for anyone with an interest in sleep

I really enjoyed listening to this book. The content was interesting and easy to follow.

I’m a respiratory trainee, with some basic sleep exposure during my training and this book was recommended by a neurologist friend, but I don’t think you need any prior knowledge or reading to understand the content as everything is so well explained. I was listening to this for enjoyment but felt that I picked up a lot of useful knowledge and tips along the way- for example I had never heard of the glymphatic system. It took me a few chapters to get into it, but I would highly recommend this book!

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9 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting

Packed with information. A book that can be listened many times. Addressed to general public but also a borderline medical textbook. I am looking forwards to more books by the author.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Thank you so much this book was a godsend

I often have trouble sleeping so wanted to try and understand why. Really interesting and informative and often amusing book which helped me understand my own sleep issues.

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5 people found this helpful

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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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Fascinating

Fascinating cases of oft-bizarre sleep disorders, narrated by the author. Well-told and highly interesting. The section on nightmares (and the related cases) gives much food for thought.

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3 people found this helpful

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Such a luxury

I just feel completely blown away. This is a very educated and academic insight into the nocturnal processes. I'm incredibly interested in the psychology of sleep and this has broadened my mind beyond belief.

His voice alone when reading it will take you places!

Well written, well spoken. It will elaborate on what you wanted to ask lol!

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3 people found this helpful

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Very informative

Accessible but detailed. Clearly explains a range of complex concepts and highlights how broad the field of sleep disorder is and how it overlaps and may be indicative of other related neurological health challenges. Well worth reading and enjoyable to listen to.

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3 people found this helpful

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Thought provoking, reassuring, amusing

Excellent book, combining science and insight with the uniquely human perspective. A superb example of qualitative understanding. Highly recommended.

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1 person found this helpful

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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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I’m a neuroscientist myself, & I ate it up :)

A really good listen!

Neither over-simplified nor hard to follow - encourages you to discover and enjoy the technical details, as well as the very human stories.

Building on the tradition of Oliver Sachs but firmly in the 21st century. No tales of chronic wards in the 1960s…!

I once worked in sleep research myself for years, so it was a great revision of things and anecdotes I’d forgotten.

Some really reassuring detailed chapters on conditions such as RLS (which I have) that are really useful to patients and families … and hopefully will be instructive to a few doctors too.

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