Sleep scientist Russell Foster: ‘I want to take the anxiety around sleep away’

Sleep scientist Russell Foster: ‘I want to take the anxiety around sleep away’

The Oxford professor has studied our circadian rhythms for decades – and says much of what we think we know is wrong

Killian Fox
Sat 25 Jun 2022 14.00 BST
98
Born in Aldershot in 1959, Russell Foster is a professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford and the director of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology. For his discovery of non-rod, non-cone ocular photoreceptors he received numerous awards including the Zoological Society scientific medal. His latest book – the first he has written without a co-author – is Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, and How It Can Revolutionize Your Sleep and Health.

Interesting. I know most people my age wake up early, and I was always told, "Oh, just wait, when you get to be a certain age you won't be able to sleep past dawn". But that has never happened. I'm a night owl and rarely go to sleep before midnight or later, and can sleep until 8 or 9 or even later. Nor can I nap during the day. l also need about 8-9 hours of sleep a night. My circadian rhythm means that if I can't get 8-9 hours, I actually do better on 5-6 hours than 7 hours, which is deadly for me- I feel like a zombie all day if I get woken up after 7 hrs of sleep.