Chemistry of Conscious States: How the Brain Changes Its Mind

by J. Allan Hobson

Book Overview

Can complex mental states - feeling, thought, memory, fantasy, dreaming - be explained by electro-chemical events in the brain? If so, how? Hobson uses anecdote and example to illustrate his theory... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316367621
• ISBN13: 9780316367622
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Informative and enlightening

Being an absolute layman I found parts of this book a struggle to get my head round but enjoyed it none the less. It also normalised some personal puzzles about curious sleep phenomena by describing what goes on in the brain chemistry.

Excellent! "I dream, therefore I am!"

----------------------------------------Emily Dickinson opens this book, appropriately:"The Brain -- is wider than the Sky -- For -- put them side by side -- The one the other will contain With ease -- and You -- beside --"The Brain is deeper than the sea -- For -- hold them -- Blue to Blue -- The one the other will absorb -- As Sponges -- Buckets -- do --"The Brain is just the weight of God -- For -- Heft them -- Pound for Pound -- And they will differ -- if they do -- As Syllable from Sound -- "----------------------------------------From the section titled "Principles of the Brain-Mind Paradigm", early in the book:"Three fundamental principles make up the brain-mind paradigm. The first is that the brain-mind is a unified system. The brain and mind are inextricably linked: no brain, no mind. ..."The second fundamental principle . . . is that there are three cardinal brain-mind states: waking, sleeping, and dreaming. These are the fundamental organizational units of the brain-mind. ..."The third principle is that brain-mind states can be measured and manipulated, and thus understood. We have already seen that brain-mind states are controlled by a brain-within-the-brain, the aminergic-cholinergic system. This chemical system provides a solid link between neurology, psychology, and the psychiatric use of drugs."----------------------------------------From the section titled "Managing Memory", not quite midway through the book:"I believe, though I can't yet prove it, that the brain-mind traverses the states of non-REM and REM sleep in part to reinforce and reorganize memory. ..."Though still speculation, there is mounting evidence that one of the reasons we need sleep at all is to permanently encode our memories. We sleep, and the past day's memories are reactivated as we dream, which changes their status; it advances them from short-term memory into long-term memory, perhaps by imposition of acetylcholine, which is omnipresent during sleep."----------------------------------------From the section titled "It's Normal to be Abnormal", toward the end of the book:"The sleep prescription I have given myself works only for me. You will have to do your own analysis to find a prescription for yourself. As you plot the outcome, don't be surprised by extremes. There is great variation in our nonconscious states; some people need very litle sleep, others need a great deal, and many people require more (even if just a little bit more) than the social world allows."----------------------------------------This is truly a great book, carefully and thoughtfully written for the rest of us by a gifted working scientist.I had to get my copy via an out-of-print book search (through a university book store), after I had read the library's copy. I paid $21 for a used copy of the paperback edition, which suggests that those who have copies are hanging onto them. A reprint edition would be very welc

Excellent!! Readable, focused and informative.

I have found Dr. Hobson's "The Chemistry of Conscious States" to be far more helpful than Candace Pert's "Molecules of Emotion". Thank you, Dr. Hobson!

A thought provoking and clearly written book on neurochemist

This book is an excellent resource for mental health professionals who have a biopsychosocial perspective of the healing process. Hobson advocates for non-drug interventions which can bring balance to neurochemistry. An extensive discussion of sleep and its importance to health is also very thorough and thought provoking. A must read