Leading sleep researcher Rosalind Cartwright here brings together decades of work on sleep and sleep disorders to put forth a new theory of how the human brain works. Drawing upon cutting-edge research in such areas as human learning, memory, and emotion, Cartwright's theory integrates conscious and unconscious processes as they move forward across time--from waking, to sleeping and dreaming, to the next waking day. The author contends that one of the main purposes of sleep is to aid in regulating emotions and in processing experiences that occur during waking hours, describing how conscious thoughts and feelings are replayed and related in memory throughout sleep and dreams, and how this process effects changes in thinking and feeling the next day--and in our very identities. The Twenty-four Hour Mind offers a unique look at a relatively new area of study that will be of interest to those with and without sleep problems, as well as anyone captivated by the mysteries of the brain--and what sleep and dreams continue to teach us about the waking mind.