January, 2022: "Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams" by Matthew Walker

	Author: Matthew Walker
	Genre: Non-fiction
	Published: 2017
	Pages: 341
	Reading started: January 4th, 2022
	Current progress: Page 341 of 341 (100%)
	Reading ended: March 22nd, 2022. This book was successfully finished in 77 days.
	Effective reading time: 9 hours, 23 minutes (1 minute, 39 seconds per page)
	Number of sessions: 29
	Average session reading time: 19 minutes, 25 seconds
	Average session review score: 4.3 of 5
	Final review score: 4.5 of 5

Description

Amazon.com: 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.