Light O'Clock (Season 2)

Episode 2: Sleep and circadian rhythms – same or different?

Host: Carolina Guidolin | Guest: Renske Lok

DOI: 10.17617/1.awh0-hz11 | License: CC-BY

In today’s episode, we dive deep into the relationship between circadian rhythms and the sleep-wake cycle with Dr. Renske Lok from Stanford University. Are they different or the same? What other processes in the body regulate your sleep? Can you catch-up on lost sleep? How can you even know if you are sleep-deprived and need more sleep? Tune in to get the answers to these and many other questions on sleep and circadian rhythms.

Links and resources related to the episode’s content

• Graphic of sleep pressure (process S) and circadian rhythms (process C) [https://static.physoc.org/app/uploads/2019/03/22194528/Fig3.jpg]

• Further reading on the two-process model of sleep [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9540767/]

• Disconnect between how sleepy people feel (subjective) and how sleepy they actually are (objective) [https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S312808]

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(02:08) Introducing Dr. Lok

(02:44) Circadian rhythms: from morning to night

(06:37) Sleep and circadian rhythms: same or different?

(08:10) The two-process model of sleep

(09:08) The “forbidden” zone

(10:02) Travel and jet-lag

(11:35) How does sleep pressure work?

(14:28) Can you catch-up on lost sleep?

(17:19) How to know if you’re sleep-deprived?

(20:03) Separating process S and C in the lab

(26:20) Outro