‘With my job on Today, I’ve become enthusiastic about sleep. The Nocturnal Brain interweaves bizarre real life stories with leading edge neurological technology in the true tradition of Oliver Sacks. A fascinating go through.’ Martha Kearney, BBC Radio 4

‘Casebooks of neurological disorders tend to be unusual and wonderful, but this one is special.’ Sunday Occasions

‘The Nocturnal Brain will not guarantee to get rid of your insomnia, nonetheless it does make for an entertaining and thought-provoking bedtime about The Nocturnal Brain: Tales of Nightmares and Neuroscience read.’ The Guardian

For Man Leschziner’s patients, there is absolutely no rest for the weary in mind and body. Insomnia, narcolepsy, evening terrors, apnoea and sleepwalking are simply a sample of the circumstances afflicting sufferers who cannot rest – and their encounters in wanting to are the stuff of nightmares. Demonaic hallucinations frighten people into paralysis. Restless legs rock both sleepless and their sleeping companions with unpredictable and uncontrollable kicking. Out-of-sync circadian rhythms confuse the organic body clock’s days and nights.

Then there are the severe cases. A woman in circumstances of deep sleep who gets dressed, unlocks her car and drives for many miles before time for bed. The man that has spent decades cleaning out kitchen areas while ‘sleep-eating’. The teen susceptible to the serious, yet unfortunately nicknamed, Sleeping Beauty Symptoms, stuck in a cycle of excessive unconsciousness, binge eating and uncharacteristic displays of aggression and hypersexuality while awake.

With compassionate tales of his sufferers and their conditions, Leschziner illustrates the neuroscience behind our sleeping thoughts, revealing the countless biological and psychological factors required in obtaining the rest that won’t only keep our physical and mental wellness, but also improve our cognitive abilities and overall pleasure.