Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams“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. |
Contents
Chapter | 3 |
Chapter | 12 |
and What We Learned from a Baby in 1952 | 37 |
Chapter 4 | 55 |
Chapter 5 | 77 |
Why Should You Sleep? | 105 |
Chapter 8 | 164 |
How and Why We Dream | 191 |
Dreaming as Overnight Therapy | 206 |
Dream Creativity and Dream Control | 219 |
Pills vs Therapy | 283 |
What Medicine and Education | 296 |
A New Vision for Sleep in the TwentyFirst Century | 323 |
To Sleep or Not to Sleep | 340 |
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Common terms and phrases
adenosine adolescence alcohol Alzheimer's disease awake benefit biological blood brain activity brain and body brainwave activity brainwaves caffeine cancer cause cells chapter circadian rhythm clinical clock cortex creative cycle deep NREM sleep deep sleep developing disorder drug early effects eight hours electrical emotional experience fall asleep feel full night function ghrelin hippocampus hours a night hours of sleep human immune impaired increase individuals insomnia insufficient sleep lack of sleep learning less light mammals melatonin memory microsleep morning narcolepsy neural night of sleep nighttime older adults orexin participants patients pattern percent performance rats REM sleep REM-sleep dreaming result risk scientific scientists short sleep signal sleep amount sleep deprivation sleep loss sleep paralysis sleep pressure sleep spindles sleeping pills slow-wave sleep studies suffering suprachiasmatic nucleus sympathetic nervous system teenagers temperature thalamus tion total sleep twenty-four-hour wake zolpidem