For most of us, switching off the light and curling up in a warm, cosy bed is the welcome reward for a good day done (or much-needed respite from a bad one).

But not everybody can soak up their allotted hours in joyful slumber before the alarm goes off. In fact, according to the Mental Health Foundation, it is estimated that 20 per cent of adults suffer from some form of insomnia, while many more of us experience issues like sleep walking, sleep apnoea and night terrors.

Dr Guy Leschziner is a world-renowned neurologist and sleep physician, whose new book The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience and the Secret World of Sleep (£16.99, Simon & Schuster) attempts to unpick some of the mysteries around what is happening to your body whilst you doze off in the land of Nod.

In this podcast, we find out what is happening in our brain while we dream, how to get a better night’s sleep, and whether sleep tech and apps are all they’re all cracked up to be.

He speaks to BBC Science Focus Online Editor Alexander McNamara.

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