Review: Nodding Off: The Science of Sleep from Cradle to Grave

British sleep researcher Alice Gregory shares her extensive knowledge and passion for the science of sleep in Nodding Off. She begins with her own story: as a sleep-deprived psychiatry student at Oxford University, Gregory was deeply affected by a lecture conducted by an American psychology professor who stressed how "slumber is essential to our waking existence" and how often the importance of sleep is underestimated.
 
This experience encouraged Gregory to examine closely why so little was/is known about sleep, a universal, "mysterious pastime." Throughout her psychiatric education, she studied the influence of genes and environment--nature and nurture--and whether "someone functions best in the morning, like a lark, or at night, like an owl." When she hit her 30s and gave birth to a child who refused to sleep--and also robbed Gregory of rest--her research took on deeper personal meaning, and led to this book.
 
Gregory probes the elusive question of "what is sleep?" by explaining processes that control sleep and wakefulness and what happens to the body, scientifically, when one slumbers. In clear, concise, layman's terms, she explains aspects of REM and NREM sleep, how brain areas manage sleep and wakefulness and how the electrical activity of the brain suggests that it is "neither motoring nor idle as we rest." Sleep, a biological process, gives the brain and body a chance to restore themselves, cleaning out toxins that build up over the course of a day.
 
Nodding Off covers all bases and is laden with technical information woven with examples of sleeping trials and red flags. The addition of interesting facts and trivia--such as how dolphins sleep half their brains at a time as they continue to move about--adds levity to the presentation. Gregory chronicles, in depth, the nature of sleep and challenges faced over a lifetime. She examines how gestating babies establish their own sleeping patterns; how parenting and early family dynamics play a significant role in sleep habits; and how brain development and sleep difficulties often pair up in cases of ADHD and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
 
Moreover, Gregory explains how sleep affects moods, emotions and brain functioning, citing the ways students who start school at 8:40 a.m. versus 7:15 a.m. benefit from extra Z's. Sleep--or lack thereof--also has a direct effect on marriages, pregnancy, parenthood, menopause and old age. Insomnia and sleep deprivation have become an epidemic that complicates relationships, finances and can even lead to physical disease, mental health problems and death.
 
Gregory's expert perspective offers hope, though. Well-drawn, thoroughly sourced case studies and scenarios outline excellent strategies and commonsense tips for combating problems and getting better sleep. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines.
 
Shelf Talker: A noted British expert on sleep shares her knowledge about the science and nature of sleep through every stage of life.
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