Spindles: Stories from the Science of Sleep

The science of sleep is changing. Recent studies are revolutionising the way we think about ‘nature’s second course’ and its relationship to memory, decision-making and motor skills. And yet very little of this new research has so far been touch by fiction writers. Despite storytelling’s age-old fascination with sleep and dreams, authors have yet to properly address even the basics of contemporary sleep science. This commission is the first attempt to incorporate some of this new theory into storytelling and popular fiction: from memory consolidation, to the ‘printing’ of new memories during sleep, from sleep disorders like parasomnia, to genetic theories about insomnia - these stories cover everything the modern field has to offer, whilst staying in touch with the age-old mythology that still surrounds and informs our understanding of sleep.