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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.
With two appearances on CBS This Morning and Fresh Air's most popular interview of 2017, Matthew Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life. 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 it is absent. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive.
Within the brain, sleep enriches a diversity of functions, including 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 creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge, inspiring creativity.
In this “compelling and utterly convincing” (The Sunday Times) book, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshalling his 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, and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night’s sleep every night.
Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book. Written with the precision of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Sherwin Nuland, it is “recommended for night-table reading in the most pragmatic sense” (The New York Times Book Review).
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.
With two appearances on CBS This Morning and Fresh Air's most popular interview of 2017, Matthew Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life. 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 it is absent. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive.
Within the brain, sleep enriches a diversity of functions, including 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 creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge, inspiring creativity.
In this “compelling and utterly convincing” (The Sunday Times) book, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshalling his 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, and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night’s sleep every night.
Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book. Written with the precision of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Sherwin Nuland, it is “recommended for night-table reading in the most pragmatic sense” (The New York Times Book Review).
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Community Reviews
Good and interesting advisers . Recommend to all who what to really understand why sleeping is Important and what does it bring to our lives
An easy to read review of the latest research on the impact of sleep and lack thereof. Gave me the extra boost I needed to improve my own sleep habits. A perfect bedtime read.
PFS Book Club --- 9th September 2023
Today we reviewed book called “Why we sleep” by Matthew Walker.
Ridhika started the session by asking question that why we say sometimes “sleep over it” when we are not sure what to decide. She explained how sleep is so important that it affects cognitive and physical performance in both short term and long term. Sleep is key to good physical and mental health, while dreaming inspires creativity. Ridhika also mentioned that sleep is important to all the mammals and lack of it led to many diseases from diabetes to cancer.
She defined sleep in to two parts a) Rapid eye movement sleep and b) non rapid eye movement sleep.
Rapid eye movement sleep is similar to when you are awake. Brain’s visual, memory points are activated and is the sleep in which you dream.
Non rapid eye movement sleep is similar to when somebody is in coma. We experience black out and cortex of the brain is relaxed. Ridhika explained that during this sleep brain behaves like a computer and memories get transferred from short term memory to long term memory.
When you sleep depending on individual, you experience both REM and NREM sleep with 90 minutes of NREM sleep. Manish mentioned that healthy body needs three sets 90 minutes each NREM sleep combined with some REM sleep.
Ridhika mentioned that need of sleep is determined by two things circadian rhythm and adenosine levels. Circadian rhythm is body clock which controls the body sleep and adenosine is a chemical which makes you sleepy.
Ridhika also mentioned very important that how circadian rhythm gets disturbed when you travel in time zones and when you travel towards east as you gain time, your sleep quality gets reduced compared to moving to west as you lose time.
When you drink caffeine, even after 5-7 hours it remains in body and disturbs adenosine level which in result affects sleep. Ridhika also mentioned that kids need more sleep-in morning and that’s why in USA and UK many schools start around 10 am. Your biological age decreases due to lack of sleep and one day sleep loss gets recovered over one month and irregular sleep leads to dementia.
It’s a common myth that sleeping pills and alcohol helps in better sleep, its like taking anesthesia which puts all system on hold. We discussed how 20 minutes day naps during day helps in making you fresh. Many far east countries follow this and Nathan added that in south east Asian countries schools also encourage naps in school.
Ridhika also mentioned autism and ADHD is also related to sleep deprivation and bad sleep quality affects your genes ion long term. Prateek mentioned that sleeping was also part of evolution and most of the mammals sleep in night and it’s a common understanding that they will not get attacked.
Yet another amazing session 😊
This is the most complete and up-to-date book on everything related to sleep. You know the thing we're supposed to spend 1/3 of our life doing? Everyone needs to read this. It's one of a few books I'd consider a necessary owner's manual to the human body. That said, a lot of it- but not all- was a repeat for me because I do a lot of science reading and sleep especially interests me.
It’s a scientific read, so drier than the non-fiction I enjoy, but was packed full of useful tips and statistics about sleep. Many of which I will now be mindful of!
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