Josh Griffis

High school teacher by day and Jeopardy contestant by night. He knows everything about sports!!! There's a dangerous new epidemic sweeping this country: excessive daytime sleepiness. According to a new National Sleep Foundation survey, an alarming one-third of American adults scored at levels of sleepiness known to be hazardous. Six percent scored at severe levels of sleepiness. Consider the implications of these findings: Although we trivialize sleep problems, sleep-related accidents result in thousands of deaths each year and billions of dollars in medical costs and lost productivity. The Exxon Valdez tanker disaster, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident, and the crash of an American International Airways DC-8-61 were all caused by operator fatigue. This exercise explores the causes of chronic sleep loss and examines exciting new discoveries in the field of sleep research. So, who cares? Why is sleep important to us, psychologically? What does sleep do for our brains and how does that impact our behavior and functionality?