Do You Have Trouble Sleeping?
Millions of us move through our days without getting enough sleep. We know that sleep deprivation can affect our physical health and our mood. But sleep researcher Chris Barnes says a chronic lack of good sleep can also affect how we make decisions and even what we value. He joins us to explore the forces that keep us from getting the rest we need, and offers practical strategies for getting better sleep. Later, psychologist Rachel Zoffness returns to answer your questions about the experience of pain, in our latest installment of "Your Questions Answered."
- Duration
- 1h 41m
- Broadcast on
- 19 Oct 2026
- Audio Format
- other
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Millions of us move through our days without getting enough sleep. We know that sleep deprivation can affect our physical health and our mood. But sleep researcher Chris Barnes says a chronic lack of good sleep can also affect how we make decisions and even what we value. He joins us to explore the forces that keep us from getting the rest we need, and offers practical strategies for getting better sleep. Later, psychologist Rachel Zoffness returns to answer your questions about the experience of pain, in our latest installment of "Your Questions Answered."
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This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedanta. Across the world, many countries are experiencing a sleep crisis. In the United States, 50 to 70 million Americans have sleep disorders. In India, almost 60% of adults get less than 6 hours of sleep every night. Sleep deprivation can make us groggy and irritable. Chronic sleep deprivation can rewire our brains and wear down our bodies. It can change how we parent, how we work with others, even what we value. This week on Hidden Brain, and in a companion episode on Hidden Brain Plus, what happens when a basic human need is jeopardized by an always-on culture and techniques to help you get a restful night of sleep. (Music) Support for Hidden Brain comes from Instagram. Instagram teen accounts, automatic protections, limit who can contact teens, the content they can see, and the time they spend on the app. Teens are automatically placed into teen accounts. Teens under 16 will need a parent's permission to change any of those settings to be less strict. Learn more about teen accounts and Instagram's ongoing work to protect teens online at instagram.com/teenaccounts. Support for Hidden Brain comes from Liberty Mutual Insurance. Making smart decisions includes considering how to protect your car and home and how much you're paying to ensure them. Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money, because when you've worked hard for something, choosing insurance should be easy. Start your quote at libertymutual.com. Support for Hidden Brain comes from Southern New Hampshire University. Science consistently tells us learning starts with motivation. That's why SNHU offers over 200 flexible, affordable online programs to help you get where you want to go. Take classes that spark your curiosity, shape your skillset, and prepare you for what's next. A degree can help move you forward no matter what motivates you. Start yours at snhu.edu/brain. We all know that sleep matters, and we all know what happens when we miss a night of sleep. At the University of Washington, sleep researcher Chris Barnes has studied what happens when the need for rest and the need to work collide. He says the consequences of not getting enough sleep extend far beyond what most of us imagine. Chris Barnes, welcome to Hidden Brain. I'm happy to be here, Sunker. Chris, you've studied the effects of sleep deprivation for many years. One story in particular has stayed with you. It involves a man named William Rockefeller. Can you tell me his story? William Rockefeller was a trained engineer in New York. He had a route that started early in the morning from Poughkeepsie, headed to New York City. The reason William Rockefeller ended up in the news one day was because of something that happened as he was making this train journey. Tell me what happened, Chris. As he was operating this train early in the morning, he sped through a section of the track in which he could go 70 miles an hour. Ended up going a little faster than that, closer to 80 miles an hour, and continued that speed as it came to a curve. This curve had a speed limit of 35, but he did not slow his train down to that speed fast enough to avoid a disaster. I understand that he hit the brake, but just not in time. Yes, it was too little, too late, and the train derailed. Four people were killed and 60 were injured. So when investigators looked into the source of the problem, tell me what they found.
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Millions of us move through our days without getting enough sleep. We know that sleep deprivation can affect our physical health and our mood. But sleep researcher Chris Barnes says a chronic lack of good sleep can also affect how we make decisions and even what we value. He joins us to explore the forces that keep us from getting the rest we need, and offers practical strategies for getting better sleep. Later, psychologist Rachel Zoffness returns to answer your questions about the experience of pain, in our latest installment of "Your Questions Answered."