Can You Can Afford This Hotel Room? George W. Bush famously said, “The future will be better tomorrow.” The hospitality industry can’t wait. They’ve seen the future of sleep – and it’s great. We owe this bountiful projection of the future to the British corporation Travelodge. Known for innovative surveys of all manner of rest, […]
Cool yourself to sleep (6/20/11)
Cooling Off Insomnia Can cooling your head treat insomnia? That’s the promise of a new device coming out of Daniel Buysse’s research group at the University of Pittsburgh. What Did They Do? Put a cooling cap at night on the front of insomniac’s heads, which lowered the temperature near the top of their head – […]
Caffeine, sleep, and memory (6/1/11)
Blame It On Adenosine What is the main action of caffeine? To block adenosine receptors – in the brain and the rest of the body. And what does adenosine do? Tell us that we’re getting sleepy. And foul up our memories. So does blocking adenosine through caffeine improve memory? If only life were so simple. […]
Paralyzed but happy? The strange implications of Locked In Syndrome (4/27/11)
The Pursuit of Happiness Enshrined in our history is the universal opportunity for “the pursuit of happiness.” Yet how can you be happy when your brain is fully aware, your body is paralyzed and the only way to communicate is to blink your eyes? Locked in syndrome has all the accouterments of nightmare, much of […]
Can naps make me smarter? (3/22/11)
Can Naps Actually Make Me Smarter? Probably. You’ll certainly be able to learn better. Matthew Walker is an Englishman who teaches and researches at UC Berkeley. Along with others like Robert Stickgold and Sara Mednick he’s shown that learning consolidates with naps. Now his recent work make it look like naps don’t just consolidate learning […]