Hi there. It's Matt here and welcome back to the podcast. Today I want to introduce a new type of episode to the podcast. It is called Hot Off the Press. In addition to covering all of the hundreds of incredible topics in sleep science.

In this new type of episode, I want to give you a taste of the latest and greatest.

The most exciting new studies that have only recently come out and that I find

utterly fascinating. So together we're going to walk out on the very leading edge of scientific knowledge,

things that we've never known before that have only now just come to light.

Today we're going to address the question of excessive

slumber. I often get asked two related questions. Am I getting enough sleep and in addition can I get too much

sleep? This hot off the press new study addresses both of these questions. What is enough sleep and is there such a thing as too much sleep?

But our story doesn't start with this new paper. There was one study that came just before it

that added the foundation layer for which this new study would be able to seat itself on. These two questions, what is enough sleep and

is there such a thing as too much sleep, may sound like complex questions, but we have very standard scientific ways to answer these questions.

And one of the most widely accepted measures of optimal sleep dates all the way back to the origins of human sleep science in

the 1960s and it's quite simple. If you are left to your own devices without any undue influence from artificial things that would pervert the true expression of your sleep need, things such as a maniacal work schedule or excessive

caffeine consumption or the trappings of modernity such as excessive

evening daylight or digital technology, if you removed all of those things,

how much sleep would your brain and your body naturally get?

Where would your sleep need settle down in terms of an optimal amount and when you settle

into that optimal amount how do we know that it's optimal and not too much sleep?

We address these questions using a very scientifically controlled method.

We bring people into the laboratory and we have them stay

there for several weeks straight and they are disconnected from society. They are

disconnected from any work schedules, they are disconnected from any

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