There's been the assumption that because sleep dominates our lives, 36 % of our biology, must be a single, overriding reason for why we sleep. But i've never really felt very comfortable with that philosophy. All life on the planet has developed a period of activity and inactivity which is adapted to the earth rotating on its axis. A day active animal fail s at night, and a night active animal fails during the day. We also know that the consolidation of memory is going on whilst we sleep. And thi some beautiful data showing that a night of sleep can enormously enhance our capacity to remember stuff,. but not only just remember stuff, but also process information. So essentially, so much
Every second of the day, tiny biological clocks are ticking throughout your body, from the neural pathways of your brain down to your very cells. But modern life is disrupting this ancient and delicate mechanism in ways we are only just beginning to understand. Artificial light, jet lag, smartphones, air pollution and out-of-sync work-and-meal routines are conspiring to push us out of joint. This is not only exacerbating mental health issues such as depression and fatigue, but according to new studies, is also increasing the risk of obesity, heart disease, dementia and even cancer. Professor Russell Foster is a world-leading expert on circadian neuroscience and his new book, Life Time, looks at how we can better understand and harness the science of rhythm and our own biology. Our host for this discussion is the author, economist and broadcaster, Linda Yueh.
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