For our end of season special, we have the rest of the NaPS lab in to answer a number of exciting sleep-related questions from our listeners. These touch on a range of different subjects from sleeps involvement in weight gain to alcohol's effect on sleep. Thanks to those who sent in questions!

List of Questions:

1.     What is it in general anaesthetic that completely prevents a patient from waking up mid-surgery? Is this a similar state to being in a deep sleep or is this different entirely?  3:43

2.    Can having daytime naps improve your memory?  5:24

3.    Can a good sleep schedule help you lose weight?  6:40

4.    Why do people tend to have a deeper sleep after drinking alcohol?   8:26

5.   Can a lack of sleep really impact the way your brain works long term?  11:24

6.   Why do children with ASD struggle to fall asleep and maintain sleep?  12:54

7.   How does loud snoring or sleep talking wake up other people but not manage to wake up the person themselves?  16:13

8.  How does drinking lots of caffeinated drinks affect our sleep wake cycle?  19:17

9.   How does hibernation differ from a normal sleep in some animals?   21:05

10.  When people say the term “just sleep on it” after a row or an emotional experience, is there any truth in this? Does sleep help you process emotions?   23:24

11.  How much is sleep deprivation related to our immunity?  25:05


This episode was produced by Bella Mills-Smith 

This recording is property of the sleep science podcast and not for resale