A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this stimulating and important book is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber.

Walker is a Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology and the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Walker spent four years writing the book in which he argues that sleep deprivation is linked to numerous fatal diseases, including dementia.

With two appearances on CBS This Morning and Fresh Air’s most popular interview of 2017, Matthew Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life.

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 it is absent.

Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive.

Within the brain, sleep enriches a diversity of functions, including our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions.

It re-calibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge, inspiring creativity.

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