Why don’t we fall out of bed when we’re asleep?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science, Technology

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2022

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why don’t we fall out of bed when we’re asleep? That’s the question that’s been keeping CrowdScience listener Isaac in Ghana awake, so presenter Alex Lathbridge snuggles up with some experts to find the answer.

We get a lot of emails about sleep, so we’ve gathered together some of our favourite questions and put them to academics working on the science of snoozing.

We’re wondering why some people laugh in their sleep, why some people remember their dreams and not others, and why we need to sleep at all - can’t we just rest?

Our slumber scholars tell us about how our bodies continue to gather information while we’re asleep, how the tired brain is more likely to remember negative experiences, how we mimic other people in our sleep, and how sleep makes you more attractive to other people. And Alex takes a trip to the zzzzoo to meet some animals that have very different sleep patterns to humans. It’s his dream assignment.

Contributors: Vanessa Hill, University of Central Queensland Professor Russell Foster, University of Oxford Mark Kenward, Drusillas Zoo Park

Presented by Alex Lathbridge Produced by Ben Motley for the BBC World Service

[Image: Man Falling into bed. Credit: Getty Images]

Transcript

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0:00.0	Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of
0:07.0	Happiness Podcast.
0:08.0	For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want
0:14.4	to share that science with you.
0:16.1	And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.
0:19.4	I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that
0:25.4	calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds. Rockabai Crowd Science into your ears.
0:39.0	When one show is over, another appears.
0:42.4	It's got experts with facts that will surely impress.
0:46.0	Answering questions at listener's request.
0:50.0	So wherever you are, on the bus or in bed, this is a program for your sleepy head.
0:58.0	This is crowd science from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Lathbridge and today we're answering
1:07.1	your questions about something that's very important to every single one of us. It's a subject crowd science gets a lot of emails about. We're talking about sleep.
1:17.9	As the person on the crowd science team with the voice most likely to put you to sleep,
1:22.1	I've gathered together some of our favorite questions,
1:25.9	and joining me to help us answer them are a pair of slumber scholars.
1:30.0	Would you please introduce yourselves?
1:32.0	Hi, I'm Vanessa Hill.
1:33.8	I'm a behavioral scientist who specializes in sleep
1:37.1	and I will say, I have sounded healthier in my life,
1:40.5	so please bear with me.
1:42.0	My research areas are bedtime procrastination and using your phone in bed.
	...

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