J Allan Hobson

The Chemistry of conscious states

The relationship between consciousness and the brain is something which has been pondered upon by a great many people. In The chemistry of conscious states J Allen Hobson looks at how the question relates to dealing with mental illness. Hobson is an expert on the effects of sleep disorders, and has several interesting case studies in the book. He makes the point that whatever your philosophy, you should treat mental illness by dealing with both the mind and the brain. Hence rather than a having a deep divide between treatment with drugs and with psychoanalysis, it shoudl be recognised that drug treatments are useful in some circumstances, but it's more important to know about a patient's lifestyle.

If you want to know about the chemistry of the brain, there's a bit in this book but it doesn't go into very much detail. Also I found the philosophical part rather disappointing - Hobson starts the book by saying how revolutionary his ideas of consciousness are, but does little to substantiate this claim. However the book improves as it gets on to the case studies of patients and in particular their sleep patterns, their dreams and some whose waking life is dream-like. Although it isn't really a self-help book, the last part of the book does have some useful information on how changes to your sleep patterns can improve your well-being.

Amazon.com info

Paperback 320 pages
ISBN: 0316367621
Salesrank: 507740
Weight:0.75 lbs

Published: 1996 Little Brown & Co (P)

Marketplace:New from $13.00:Used from $0.87

Buy from Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk info

Hardcover 300 pages
ISBN: 0316367540
Salesrank: 211171
Weight:1.35 lbs

Published: 1995 Little, Brown

Marketplace:New from £18.17:Used from £2.69

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.ca info

Paperback 320 pages
ISBN: 0316367621
Salesrank:
Weight:0.75 lbs

Published: Time Warner UK

Marketplace::Used from CDN$ 24.63

Buy from Amazon.ca

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

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

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 welcome indeed.

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 welcome indeed.

Good as neurochemistry primer; poor on peripheral topics. **
While I enjoyed (and largely agreed with) Dr. Hobson's analysis of the brain-mind's activity in terms of the competing aminergic and cholinergic systems, I thought that he committed the fatal error that many general-audience authors in neuropsychology invariably seem to commit, namely using the latter half of a book to push upon the reader hastily-argued pet theories that would be inappropriate in a more academic literary effort. After describing his central insight of the complementary neurotransmitter systems, Hobson sketches out his own unoriginal solution to the m ind-body problem, takes pot-shots at less biologically-oriented branches of psychology, and offers a dogmatic two-page prosetylization on behalf of scientific humanism. The topics are, at best, peripheral to the central argument of the book; at worst, they display poor taste. Hobson seems to have composed the latter third of the book by elaborating on notes jotted in the back of his undergraduate lab notebooks. Since such side forays would be met more critically in a more academic setting, the rationale for Hobson's choice to include them in a general-readership book seems obvious. His poor opinion of his readers' intellectual abilities seems equally obvious, as evidenced by the low level of detail in all areas of the book.

Good as neurochemistry primer; poor on peripheral topics. **

While I enjoyed (and largely agreed with) Dr. Hobson's analysis of the brain-mind's activity in terms of the competing aminergic and cholinergic systems, I thought that he committed the fatal error that many general-audience authors in neuropsychology invariably seem to commit, namely using the latter half of a book to push upon the reader hastily-argued pet theories that would be inappropriate in a more academic literary effort. After describing his central insight of the complementary neurotransmitter systems, Hobson sketches out his own unoriginal solution to the m ind-body problem, takes pot-shots at less biologically-oriented branches of psychology, and offers a dogmatic two-page prosetylization on behalf of scientific humanism. The topics are, at best, peripheral to the central argument of the book; at worst, they display poor taste. Hobson seems to have composed the latter third of the book by elaborating on notes jotted in the back of his undergraduate lab notebooks. Since such side forays would be met more critically in a more academic setting, the rationale for Hobson's choice to include them in a general-readership book seems obvious. His poor opinion of his readers' intellectual abilities seems equally obvious, as evidenced by the low level of detail in all areas of the book.

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!

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!