Penny Lewis

Sleep Science Podcast

Science EN ↓ 28 episodes

We spend a third of our lives sleeping, and this podcast is all about understanding sleep. We know a lot about what the brain does in sleep, but we are just starting to understand why it does some of these things, and even more excitingly, how we can take full advantage of sleep and also manipulate it for our own ends. In each episode, neuroscientist Penny Lewis interviews a different sleep researcher, talking about a various aspect of sleep science. Topics include sleep physiology and medicine, circadian rhythm, how sleep impacts on our memories and creativity, Sleep Engineering for enhanced...

Author

Penny Lewis

Episodes

Episode 3: Gina Poe - How sleep restructures our memories and emotions 15.09.2020 43:33

In this episode we ask Gina Poe, a sleep scientist from UCLA, about her seminal work on both REM and non-REM sleep. We talk about the role of memory replay in REM, how to measure such replay in rats, as well as the ways in which REM impacts upon emotional representations, and may even help us to combat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We also discuss the importance of sleep spindles for upd...

Episode 2: Sasha Handley - A history of sleep in Early Modern England 25.08.2020 33:46

In this episode we look back on the beliefs and practices people had around sleep in the 16th-18th centuries. We learn about why sleep was thought so important for health, how various habits and superstitions arose around sleep often rooted in medicine or religion, and how the bedroom became a symbol of status and power. We also cover how the electrification of society radically changed our relati...

Episode 1: Bob Stickgold - What do sleep and dreams do for our minds and our memories? 24.08.2020 47:54

In this episode, we speak with Professor Bob Stickgold, one of the most prominent researchers in the field of sleep science. Bob tells us about the early days of sleep research and how he and other scientists struggled to convince the world that sleep really is important for memory. He also talks about methodological subtleties to investigate the role of sleep on cognitive functions, the purpose...