GC Times Talk

"Why We Sleep is an important and fascinating book...Walker taught me a lot about this basic activity that every person on Earth needs. I suspect his book will do the same for you." --Bill Gates A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this "stimulating and important book" (Financial Times) is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber. Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when we don't sleep. Compared to the other basic drives in life--eating, drinking, and reproducing--the purpose of sleep remained elusive. An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming. Within the brain, sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming mollifies painful memories and creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge to inspire creativity. Walker answers important questions about sleep: how do caffeine and alcohol affect sleep? What really happens during REM sleep? Why do our sleep patterns change across a lifetime? How do common sleep aids affect us and can they do long-term damage? Charting cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and synthesizing decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood, and energy levels; regulate hormones; prevent cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes; slow the effects of aging; increase longevity; enhance the education and lifespan of our children, and boost the efficiency, success, and productivity of our businesses. Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book.

Unlock the astonishing facts, myths, and benefits of one of the most endangered human resources--sleep. It has become increasingly clear that our sleep shapes who we are as much as, if not more than, we shape it. While most sleep research hasn't ven­tured far beyond research labs and treatment clinics, The Secret Life of Sleep taps into the enormous reservoir of human experiences to illuminate the complexities of a world where sleep has become a dwindling resource. With a sense of infectious curiosity, award winning author Kat Duff mixes cutting-edge research with insightful narratives, surpris­ing insights, and timely questions to help us better understand what we're losing before it's too late. The Secret Life of Sleep tackles the full breadth of what sleep means to people the world over. Embark on an exploration of what lies behind and beyond our eyelids when we surrender to the secret life of sleep.

Sleep debt is a characteristic symptom of modern society, a society that provides services without interruption consumption over 24 hours with the help of teams undergo shift work, and encouraging individuals to use these services in unconventional times. Sleep loss can also be caused by neurological, psychiatric and medical disorders. The changes of sleep and wakefulness pattern are invariably linked with neurological disorders because of the common brain circuits and neurotransmitter systems that support brain function and regulation of sleep. The negative impact of changes in sleep health include metabolic and vascular outcomes such as hypertension, myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. In mood, sleep impacts the emotional regulation, being co-morbid with depression and anxiety. The relationship of sleep with depression is bi-directional, as 90% of individuals with depression have sleep loss, and individuals with sleep disorders have depressive symptoms. This book provides new research on the prevalence, dangers and impacts on cognitive performance of sleep deprivation.

A rikshaw as a bed? A mobile phone as a teddybear? Nightly struggles with bedbugs? Worlds of Sleep investigates the sleep patterns of babies and businessmen, of mothers and daughters, of the industrious and the idle. Read how mighty knights and zealous preachers value sleep, what medicine men and modern scholars think of it. Explore what disturbs lovers' sleep and how refugees ensure their restful slumber. The eleven chapters present fascinating new insights into the social and cultural variations of the dormant side of life around the globe. Lodewijk Brunt is Emeritus Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. He has conducted fieldwork in India for many years and has published on night-life. Brigitte Steger is University Lecturer in Modern Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge. She has published widely on sleep, incl. the award-winning "(Keine) Zeit zum Schlafen?" (LIT 2004). Steger and Brunt co-edited: Night-time and Sleep in Asia and the West (Routledge 2003; pb 2006)