Better Sleep Part 1: Why is sleep important?
Firstly, let's take a look at some of the fundamentals of sleep
Click on each tile below to watch videos about the phenomenon we call sleep to build a greater understanding for the sections ahead in this program...
Why Do We Sleep?
Russell Foster is a circadian neuroscientist: He studies the sleep cycles of the brain. And he asks: What do we know about sleep? Not a lot, it turns out, for something we do with one-third of our lives. In this talk, Foster shares three popular theories about why we sleep, busts some myths about how much sleep we need at different ages - and hints at some bold new uses of sleep as a predictor of mental health.
The stages of sleep
Watch this 5 min TED talk by sleep scientist Matt Walker who breaks down the difference between REM (Rapid-Eye Movement) and non-REM sleep, what occurs during each stage of sleep, and why it's important to get enough of both.
How sleep affects your emotions
It's not just your imagination - you're more irritable when you're low on zzzzs. Sleep scientist Matt Walker explains in this video how our nightly slumber affects the emotional centers in our brains, and why we can think of sleep as first aid for our feelings.
The impact of sleep on learning and memory
Here, sleep scientist Matt Walker explains how getting enough sleep affects how our brains store and process memories.
