The Purpose of Your Nap Naps are back in the news. Air traffic controllers, pilots, truck drivers, and your average citizen are falling asleep in droves – with sometimes fatal results. For a chronically sleep deprived population, can naps restore and rebuild? Yes. Naps can return function to many sleepy people. But rest’s capacity to […]
Do we fall sleep one neuron at a time? (5/11/11)
Sleep Is Local Think globally, act locally. That old political mantra also is true of the brain – including sleep. The American model of sleep is relatively simple – light switch on, light switch off. We go out “like a light,” or as others put it, “lie down and die.” Then the light switch goes […]
Is sugar poison? (5/5/11)
Villain or Hero? We like our villains simple and singular, whether in politics or food. Our brains crave order, but seeing issues as part of larger systems is too complicated, too effortful and time consuming to seem worth it. Besides, it makes for lousy copy. Better to choose a villain. Recently, patients have been coming […]
Predictor or marker – what scientific studies can you believe? (4/25/11)
Correlation – or Causation? Correlation versus causation is a major issue for media science and health stories. Recently I was asked in a TV interview about data that appeared to demonstrate earlier deaths for those who sleep more than eight hours a night. The reason, I tried to explain, is that people who are sick […]
Let air traffic controllers nap (4/20/11)
Sleeping and Flying It’s a national emergency: air traffic controllers have fallen asleep in Reno, Washington, and several other cities. Planes carrying severely ill patients arrive at airports where “nobody” is in charge. The government head of air traffic control has been asked to resign. What’s going on? It’s very much the same situation that […]