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With billions of neurons and trillions of connections between them, the brain is infinitely complex. But one feature of the mind captures our collection attention like no other: dreaming.

Dreams are a source of mystery. They have changed the course of individual lives and the world, spurring business deals, inspiring art and scientific breakthroughs, triggering military invasions and mental breakdowns. Yet the source of dreams is not mysterious. They are the product of normal brain electrophysiology and they follow the circadian rhythms, the day-night cycles that govern all life.

In this pioneering book, bestselling neurosurgeon Dr Rahul Jandial delves into decades of research into the dreaming brain and shares stories from his own practice to show the extraordinary impact that dreams have on our waking life. He explains how dreaming of an exam can help you perform up to 20% better, why taking a long nap will make you better at creative problem-solving, and even that acting out your dreams can warn you of serious diseases like Parkinson’s years ahead of other symptoms.

Sharing the very latest discoveries in modern neuroscience, This Is Why You Dream provides answers to some fundamental questions: Why do we dream? How do we dream? What do dreams mean? And perhaps, most importantly, do we sleep in order to dream?