S01E01 Mysteries of sleep: The often neglected third of our lives

In this episode of the Brain Health podcast, Alessia and Kim talk to Jo Solet, a sleep researcher. Together, they delve into the mysteries of sleep, its significance, and ways to improve brain health through sleep. 

Jo Solet, PhD., is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a trained clinician and researcher. Throughout her fruitful career, she has worked with Cambridge Health Alliance and Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is known for involvement in interdisciplinary research regarding sleep quality, including a project that aimed to improve hospital design and brought together experts from acoustic engineering and medicine. She has also been engaged as an educator, advocating for healthy sleep.  

In this interview, she provides an account of how important sleep is, from its evolutionary to  practical, everyday, purposes, all supported with useful advice and insights from the most recent studies. She also discusses some of the most common sleep issues, like sleep apnea and insomnia, provides practical advice, and suggests some tools like sleep gadgets and sleep apps that evaluate sleep cycle.

Kim Baden-Kristensen is the co-founder and CEO of Brain+, a digital therapeutics company that helps people with brain disorders and injuries to recover their fundamental cognitive brain functions and daily life capabilities by using an app-based cognitive rehabilitation platform, which is developed in close collaboration with patients, clinicians and researchers.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbadenk/

Alessia Covello is a life science IT consultant working in the field of healthcare technology implementation, and advocating for better services for people with brain conditions and learning disabilities.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessiacovello/


Talking points include:  

• Sleep across species and evolution - how civilisation changed human sleep and our understanding of it. (min. 3:29) 
• What is efficient sleep? What does it consist of? (min. 6:22) 
• Light sleep, deep sleep, and dream sleep - functions and importance (min. 8:00)
• How sleep changes with age and how that affects the brain (min. 10:53) 
• More on sleep efficiency (min. 11:35)
• Sleep disruption and its impact on brain health - consequences on attention, memory, and learning processes (min. 13:06-29:20)
• SLEEP TIPS: Recommendations on how to improve sleep (min. 29:27 – 41:00)
• Sleep and mental disorders - how sleep interacts with depression and anxiety. (min. 41:50) 
• Sleep and mental disorders - how sleep interacts with depression and anxiety. (min. 41:50) 
• Seasonal mental health issues and sleep  - “winter depression” in the Nordic countries and a not-so-fun fact about daylight saving time (min. 45:20) 
• Shift-work and school-hours - what do the studies say? (min. 48:53) 
• Recommendations for primary care providers (min. 51:25) 
• Interior design that facilitates sleep - hospitals, offices, apartments (min. 54:20)
• Trends in sleep research: enhancing sleep through food and exercise, long-term goals (min. 57:50)
• Recent developments in sleep-related technology (min. 1:02:05-65:45)
• Wrap-up and conclusions (min. 1:05:45)

Disclaimer:

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