Every night you switch off consciousness, lie down, and become vulnerable for hours. Evolution doesn't tolerate a waste of a third of your life — so sleep must be doing something essential. We explore what actually happens across a night's sleep, the remarkable overnight "rinse cycle" that cleans the brain, why sleep matters for memory, and what the science does and doesn't establish about sleep and health.

You'll come away understanding the stages your brain cycles through each night, what deep sleep and dreaming sleep seem to be for, how the brain clears waste while you sleep, and why chronic sleep loss is worth taking seriously — without the scaremongering.

Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au

Further reading: Matthew  ...