The first sleep book by a leading scientific expert, Professor Matthew Walker, Director of UC Berkeley₂s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab, reveals his groundbreaking exploration of sleep, explaining how listeners can harness its transformative power to change their lives for the better.

This book presents an exploration of sleep, explaining how we can harness its transformative power to change our lives for the better. Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when we don't sleep. Compared to the other basic drives in life - eating, drinking, and reproducing - the purpose of sleep remained elusive. An explosion of scientific discoveries has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. The author, a neuroscientist and sleep expert, offers an exploration of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming. Within the brain, sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming mollifies painful memories and creates