Books

Allan Hobson is a prolific writer with ten published books to his credit.  Some of the older out of print titles are still available from the author; see the For Sale section of this site for ordering details.

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The Dreaming Brain.  Basic Books, 1988. This is the foundational text which contrasts Hobson's new theory of dreaming with that of Freud. Paperback version is still in print and available in bookstores.   "[Hobson] provides a basis for a formal analysis of dreams as behavior that is not only valuable as a contribution to the field but is critical if we are to proceed in the principal challenge of neurobiology, the understanding of the human mind.." -- from a review by Robert Y. Moore

Sleep. Scientific American Library, 1989. Covers basic sleep and dream research in all of its aspects from biological rhythms to sleep medicine. Out of print.

The Chemistry of Conscious States.  Little Brown and Co. 1994.  First edition of text written for the general reader explaining clinical relevance of basic science discoveries.

Dreaming as Delirium. MIT Press 1994.  Same text as The Chemistry of Conscious States.  Limited availability.

Consciousness.  Scientific American Library 1999.  A review of the new science of consciousness as it is informed by the study of sleep and dreaming.  No longer in print.

Out of Its Mind: Psychiatry in Crisis.  Perseus Press 2001.  A critique of modern psychiatry in the light of biological discoveries on the brain basis of mind. The central thesis is that the psychological and social assumptions of psychiatry are both in need of replacement.  Co-authored by Jonathan Leonard.  Still available from Perseus.

The Dream Drugstore. MIT Press 2001. The pharmacological tests of the reciprocal interaction hypothesis are reviewed in the context of psychopharmacology. The book also champions first person accounts  of exceptional mental states as described by Aldous Huxley (hypnosis), Albert Hoffmann (LSD), Thomas de Quincey (opium),  Heinrich Kluver (mescaline), and Samuel Coleridge (morphine).  Limited availability.

Dreaming: An Introduction to the Science of Sleep. Oxford University Press 2002.  First published as a trade book and now available reissued in the "A Very Short Introduction" series, this user-friendly and concise text summarizes most of the new findings of sleep and dream science integrated according to the reciprocal interaction and activation synthesis models.  Ideal for classroom teaching.  Available from Oxford.

13 Dreams Freud Never Had.  Pi Press 2005. A radical critique of Freudian dream theory which is based on neurobiology and the formal analysis of dream content.  By discussing, in detail, 13 of his own dreams, the author insists that meaning and emotional salience of dreams is superficially obvious and that dreams need no deep interpretation to be psychologically informative.  Limited availability.

From Angels to Neurones: Art and the New Science of Dreaming.  Mattioli 1885, 2005.  Co-authored with Hellmut Wohl, Professor of Art History at Boston University.  The representations of historical views of dreaming are reviewed through a selective discussion of works of Western Art.  The brain basis of creativity and dreaming is detailed as it is revealed in modern sleep and dream science.  Limited availability.

Dream Life: An Experimental Memoir. MIT Press, 2011.  A "biopsychography" discussing  biology and psychology  in the context of autobiographical experiences from the author's life and work. Illustrated.