Why do we jolt as we fall asleep?

We’re back! We’ve officially moved into our new headquarters! Come unpack with us and get a tour while we fill you in on some big news. Plus, new episodes of Brains On coming later this month and new Smash Boom and Forever Ago after that. If you want to support the show or drop u ...  Show more

We're moving the Brains On Universe Headquarters, and that means we have to stop putting out new episodes until we get settled. We know: not cool. But, our new home is going to be bigger and better and the absolute BEST. We can't wait until it's ready for you to visit. In the mea ...  Show more

We have some questions about sleep: It’s ok to stay up late, right? Is it possible to control your dreams? Do all animals sleep? Why do we need to sleep anyway? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

We spend about a third of our lives either sleeping or trying to fall asleep. Why are we so bad at it? We ask behavioral sleep specialist Jade Wu.  This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh and Carla Javier, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered b ...  Show more

You're peacefully drifting off to sleep when suddenly you feel as if you're falling into a void and you startle awake. This rather unpleasant sensation is known as a ‘hypnic jerk’ and is a common occurrence. It is an involuntary muscle spasm, a bit like a hiccup, also known as ‘m ...  Show more

Why don’t we fall out of bed when we’re asleep? That’s the question that’s been keeping CrowdScience listener Isaac in Ghana awake, so presenter Alex Lathbridge snuggles up with some experts to find the answer.

We get a lot of emails about sleep, so we’ve gathered togeth ...