The link between sleep and memory has been a compelling area of research for many years. New theories about the specific relationship between sleep and memory have recently emerged that reveal much about the roles that sleep plays in this process. In this episode we will:

• Touch upon the history of sleep and memory studies
• Review the discovery of the glymphatic system and how it is not only involved in cognitive health but also influenced by sleep
• Learn how slow wave sleep/deep sleep primes our brains to learning
• Differentiate the solidification/activation of memory by deep sleep versus the linkage and solidification of sleep by REM sleep
• Contrast declarative hippocampal memory storage via slow wave sleep and implicit memory stored outside the hippocampus
• Explore various rodent and human models for studying memory
• Introduce the technique and science behind Targeted Sensory Reactivation

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Within the field of sleep science, there are few questions asked more frequently than, "How much sleep do we need?" While the answer eight hours seems to make the rounds in the media (and anything less would appear to be cause instant harm or even death), what is the answer? Is the question even answerable? In this episode we will:

• Evaluate how age is constantly influencing sleep need
• List other factors affecting sleep amount for an individual including sleep quality, activity level, previous sleep deprivation, pregnancy and illness
• Explore the inherent difficulties in applying epidemiological sleep data to individual sleepers
• Look at the data rejecting the idea that 8 hours is the ideal amount of sleep for adults 
• Define the "J curve" commonly seen in studies exploring optimal sleep amounts
• Understand how sleep behaviors need can be easily mislead in terms of indicators of average sleep need
• Touch upon how individuals who can get by better with inadequate sleep may misinterpret this as being a healthy practice

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Information and advice about better sleep comes from more individuals and sources than can be counted. In our current era of "fake news," it can be difficult to determine is the sleep advice or science behind what you are seeing or reading is legitimate. In this episode we will:

• Differentiate between misinformation, disinformation, and bullshit
• Look at examples of each and work towards understanding their motivations and how they can be spotted and corrected
• Explore the consequences of the spread of bad/harmful information, and how current media factors can accelerate the dissemination of false information
• List the characteristics of information that spreads quickly
• Apply epidemiological tools to social media and the spread of bad information
• Evaluate the factors that lend themselves to the spread of bad medical information
• Consider how intuition and deliberation affect our ability for comprehensive reasoning and detection of bad information
• Review remedies to help improve the situation and reduce the spread of incorrect medical information

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

One often overlooked strategy to improve sleep and manage insomnia is to employs bedtime rituals. While most think of these as activities designed to help kids go to sleep easier, their science is deeply rooted in our sleep health. In this episode we will:

• Revisit the idea of circadian rhythms and why they are important for sleep health and sleep timing
• Define the concept of a zeitgeber and how they work to strengthen the effectiveness of our circadian rhythm and its predictive ability
• Understand the concept of weak and strong zeitgebers and how they relate to the actions that make up our bedtime routines
• Examine common bedtime rituals and their relationship to known zeitgebers
• Touch upon light as historically the strongest/most influential zeitgeber
• Differentiate the health (and sleep) benefits of exercise from the circadian benefits and understand how evening exercise could capitalize on both in a bedtime ritual
• Evaluate stress (and alleviating stress) as an unexpected zeitgeber
• Revisit the concept of temperature as a zeitgeber and how its mechanism in humans is not entirely clear
• Introduce the food entrainable-oscillator (FEO) and how it relates to food as a zeitgeber
• End on more unusual potential zeitgebers like music, and the research supporting them

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

The phenomenon of dreaming is an endless fascinating topic for many individuals, and the concept of lucid dreaming is a never-ending source of interest. What is lucid dreaming and what potential does it hold? In this episode we will:

• Define the concept of lucid dreaming
• Explore the history of the practice from its roots in ancient Hindu and Buddhist practices, to its first description by Aristotle
• Follow the changing characteristics that define lucid dreaming from its first scientific description in 1931 (when the term lucid dreaming was coined) to the present
• Touch upon seminal research exploring ways of communicating and studying the lucid dreamer and their world
• List the various techniques for inducing lucid dreams including reality testing
• Review research studying befits of lucid dreaming application

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Over the last several decades, there has been a heightened interested in alternative therapies for sleep disorders, and the practice of yoga as a sleep solution has been frequently investigated. In this episode we will:

• Define yoga and outline its fundamental philosophy
• Explore why yoga might be uniquely situated to improve sleep parameters
• Review research studies exploring yoga and enhanced sleep parameters
• Subdivide sleep studies exploring yoga nidra or the practice of yogic sleep
• Look at research exploring yoga in the /pregnant/prenatal population
• Outline yoga practices within the elderly/institutionalized population
• Evaluate yoga as a pain-mediating intervention and determine what that means in terms of sleep
• Touch upon yoga as a technique for mitigating restless leg syndrome
• Mention yoga as a therapy within the cancer treatment space

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

An important subset of parasomnias is sexsomnias--sexual behaviors that arise at night with little or no memory reported from the person involved. In addition to being disruptive to sleep, these behaviors bring with them heightened physical, emotional, and in some cases legal consequences. In this episode we will:

• Introduce and define sexsomnias
• Explore the relative short history of this behavior in medical literature
• Characterize was types of behaviors are seen in sexsomnias
• List the groups of individuals who are at risk for these behaviors
• Examine the unique features of sexsomnias
• Describe the numerous medical risk factors for sexsomnias
• Provide solutions and tips for individuals struggling with sexsomnias

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

One of the biggest misunderstandings in medicine is the differences between sleepiness and fatigue. Add to this poorly defined terms like "tired" and "exhausted," and you have the makings for not only utter confusion, but also the basis for misdiagnoses and treatments that miss the mark completely. In this episode we will:

• Provide a research background examining the confusion between the terms sleepy and fatigued
• Attempt to define sleepiness and fatigue and provide a physiological and behavioral foundation for their characterizations
• Evaluate the misuse of the term fatigue in literature regarding excessive daytime sleepiness
• Use research to characterize the unique intermediate positioning of the word "tired" in scientific explorations of sleepiness and fatigue
• Learn how the lack of a "gold standard" for fatigue evaluation has contributed to the problem
• Revisit the Epworth Sleepiness Scale as the de facto standard for quantification of sleepiness and its intrinsic shortcomings
• Discuss ways in which failure to properly characterize sleepiness or fatigue can lead to diagnostic and treatment delays and error
• Expand upon the multitude of fatigue causes and how primary medicine often stops far short of an exhaustive search for an underlying cause of an individual's fatigue
• Link specific sleep and psychological factors to elements of sleepiness and fatigue

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

The five senses are our brain's main way of collecting information about our immediate environment. They have a powerful effect on our moods, cognition, and the way we experience the world. They are also integral to the way we sleep and deal with insomnia. I recently met Gretchen Rubin and read her latest book Life in Five Senses. In this episode, we will explore heightening and honing our five senses as a portal for improving our sleep and managing insomnia. In this episode we will:

• Discuss visualization and rehearsal as a means to relax and combat insomnia
• Explore the creation of an Auditory Hypnotic playlist and how curating music/songs that relax you can be a helpful tool to set the stage for improved sleep
• Review the current data on white noise and its effects on sleep outcomes
• Discuss smell and olfaction as a tool for sleep
• Evaluate different novel smells and their relative effects on sleep and insomnia
• Revisit tart cherry juice and other pre-bedtime drinks as a way to establish routine via taste
• Introduce the concept of "sleep-touch" and review a recent study about how it effects the sleep of couples

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

There has been an explosion of research looking at relationships between one's proximity to nature and sleep. During the Covid pandemic, this research seemed more pressing than ever and rates of disordered sleep and mental health problems soared. In this episode, we will:

• Review the research linking improved sleep parameters and access to nature/green spaces
• List the potential sleep related benefits being in or around nature may create
• Evaluate the categories of benefit related to nature exposure proposed by Markevych: reducing harm, restoring capacities, and building capacities
• Highlight CO2 reduction as a harm reduction method for improving sleep
• Consider tress and canopy exposure as a separate harm reduction pathway
• Explore the role of nature on mental health and its interplay with sleep
• Touch upon the ways in which green spaces can facilitate physical activity and social cohesion
• Look specifically at green space research as it relates to children and teens

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• Twitter: @drchriswinter
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• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!