Hi there, it's Matt Walker here and welcome to the podcast.

Two quick disclaimers to begin with. First, I apologize for my personality. Second, I think it's safe to say that when most

podcasters think about their audience, perhaps falling asleep or nodding off while listening, it can be

profoundly disheartening. However, based on the topic of this podcast, I'm going to actively encourage that kind of behavior from you.

In fact, knowing what I know, particularly about the relationship between sleep and memory.

It's the greatest form of flattery for me

to think about people like you not being able to resist the urge

to strengthen and consolidate what I'm telling you by falling asleep.

So please feel free just to ebb and flow in and out of consciousness throughout all of these

episodes.

I will take absolutely no offense.

And I should also mention by the way that the podcast is going to be very wide-ranging.

We'll speak about topics such as sleep and diet, sleep and weight control,

we'll speak about sleep and exercise, sleep and mental health, we'll speak about sleep and sex and relationships even address the idea of a

sleep divorce so lots of stuff to come and of course we'll have a whole series on

dreaming lucid dreaming, but in these first couple of

episodes I want to just go over the basics of sleep.

So let's address the first fundamental question then.

What is going to happen when you go to bed tonight?

Well, it turns out that your brain is going to go

on a remarkable roller coaster ride in and out of these different stages of sleep.

And sleep, at least in human beings, and in fact in all mammalian species, has been broadly separated into two main types.

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