The science of SLUMBER

According to world-renowned sleep expert and neuroscientist Dr Matthew Walker, sleep is our best superpower. Here's why...

- CHARNDRÉ EMMA KIPPIE

We live in a high-speed world where work and personal life are all too often a blur of activity. Many of us work or study overtime, pulling all-nighters to complete tasks, and believe we'll catch up on sleep another time. After all, 'you can sleep when you're dead', right? This is ill-advised, according to sleep expert Dr Matthew Walker, author of the international best-seller, Why We Sleep, and witty host of The Matt Walker Podcast.

It's a well-known fact that humans need sleep to function, but do we really know why it's so crucial for the body and mind? Thankfully, Dr Walker has the answers. He is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, and serves as the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science.

He goes as far as to say that sleep is a "superpower" that has been eroded by society over the last 60 years. "There's a silent sleep-loss epidemic, and it is all too quickly becoming one of the greatest public health challenges we face in the 21st century," he says. "The decimation of sleep throughout industrialised nations is having a catastrophic impact on our health, our wellness - even our children's education. We must reclaim our right to a full night's sleep without embarrassment or the stigma of 'laziness'. And in doing so, we will be reunited with the most powerful elixir of life."

OPTIMAL BRAIN FUNCTION