Russell Foster is a British professor of circadian neuroscience. In this Ted talk he takes us through the history of sleep and how attitudes towards sleep have changed in more recent times. Foster guides us through the simple link to positive increases with brain function through sleep.

What we like

• For some reason sleep has been seen as unimportant in recent times. Something we can do less of. If that was the case why would the average person sleep 36% of their lives? This would mean a person that lives to 90 will sleep 32 years of their life. Are we simply wasting our life?  We think not!

Mind experience

• Foster asks us to take our sleep seriously. It is interesting to note we are taught very little about this state. There is no consensus on why we sleep although Foster indicates that brain function was one of the areas which seems to be a beneficiary. We are often told “sleep on it” when we need to make a big decision. Or you will think more clearly after you sleep. There is much to sleep and the first move is to be aware of its importance in our lives 

To think about

• Take sleep seriously:
  It increases… concentration, attention, decision making, creativity, social skills, health
  It decreases… mood change, stress, anger, impulsive, drink & smoke
• Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together – Thomas Dekker

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