Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil. And I'm Rob. You look tired, Rob. Well, I didn't sleep well last night. I was tossing and turning all night, but I couldn't get to sleep. Well, that's a coincidence, as our topic today is insomnia - the condition some people suffer from when they find it difficult to get to sleep when they go to bed. Thankfully I don't really have insomnia, but every now and again, I find it difficult to get to sleep. Well, keep listening and we might have some advice to help with that, but first, a question: What is the record for the longest a human has gone without sleep? Is it: A) about seven days? B) about nine days? Or C) about 11 days? What do you think, Rob? All of those seem impossible! So I've got to go with the shortest - about seven days. Well, if you can stay awake long enough, I'll let you know at the end of the programme. Dr Michael Grandner is an expert in all things to do with sleep. He was interviewed recently on the BBC radio programme Business Daily. He was asked what his best tip was to help you get to sleep if you are finding it difficult. What was his suggestion? And it sounds counter-intuitive, but trust me I've got decades of data behind this statement: If you cannot sleep, get out of bed. So Rob, how does he suggest you help yourself to get to sleep? Well actually, he says that the best thing to do is to get out of bed! That sounds exactly the opposite of what you should do, doesn't it? Well, he does say that his advice is counter-intuitive, which means exactly that. That it is the opposite of what you might expect. And he says that this advice is backed up by decades of research. A decade is a period of 10 years and when we say decades, it's a general term for many years, at least 20. Let's hear that advice again from Dr Grandner. And it sounds counter-intuitive, but trust me I've got decades of data behind this statement: If you cannot sleep, get out of bed. So why is getting out of bed good advice? Here's the explanation from Dr Grandner. When you're in bed and you're not asleep and you do that over, and over, and over again for extended periods of time, the ability of the bed to put you to sleep starts getting diluted. Not only that, it starts getting replaced by thinking, and tossing and turning, and worrying, and doing all these things. When you're not asleep, get out of bed. This is probably one of the most effective ways to prevent chronic insomnia. It's also one of the really effective ways to treat it. It won't work 100% of the time, but it will actually work more than most people think. We normally sleep in beds. Beds are designed to make it easy to sleep, but if we can't sleep, that makes the bed's impact weaker. As Dr Grandner says, 'it dilutes the power of the bed to help us sleep'. When you dilute something, you make it weaker. For example, you can dilute the strength of a strong fruit juice by adding water to it. So if we stay in bed, tossing and turning, which is the expression we use to describe moving around in the bed trying to get to sleep, we begin to think of the bed as place where we don't sleep rather than as a place where we do sleep. So, get out of bed to break the connection. This he says is a positive way to approach chronic insomnia. Chronic is an adjective that is used to describe conditions that are long-lasting. So we're not talking here about occasionally not being able to get to sleep, but a condition where it happens every night. Let's hear Dr Grandner again. When you're in bed and you're not asleep and you do that over, and over, and over again for extended periods of time, the ability of the bed to put you to sleep starts getting diluted. Not only that, it starts getting replaced by thinking, and tossing and turning, and worrying, and doing all these things. When you're not asleep, get out of bed. This is probably one of the most effective ways to prevent chronic insomnia. It's also one of the really effective ways to treat it. It won't work 100% of the time, but it will actually work more than most people think. Time to review today's vocabulary, but first, let's have the answer to the quiz question. What is the record for the longest a human has gone without sleep? Is it: A) about seven days? B) about nine days? C) about 11 days? What did you think, Rob? I thought it must be about seven days. Well, I'm afraid you're not right. The answer, rather amazingly, is actually just over 11 days. Extra bonus points for anyone who knew that that was done in 1964 by someone called Randy Gardner. That's extraordinary. It's difficult to imagine even going a couple of days without sleep, but 11! I wonder how long he slept for after that! 14 hours and 40 minutes. You've got all the answers, haven't you? Well when I can't sleep, I get up and read trivia! And now it's time for the vocabulary. Today our topic has been insomnia. This is the word for the condition of not being able to sleep. And something that people do when they are trying to sleep is toss and turn in bed. The opposite of what seems logical or obvious is counter-intuitive. It goes against what you might expect. So if you can't sleep, get out of bed. Our next word is diluted. This is from the verb to dilute which means 'to make something less strong'. And finally, there was the adjective chronic. This is an expression for a medical condition that is long-lasting. So someone who has chronic insomnia regularly has difficulty getting enough sleep. It's not just something that happens now and again. Well, we hope that 6 Minute English isn't a cure for insomnia, but I do find listening to podcasts and spoken radio helps me get to sleep. Well, before we all drop off to sleep from the comforting tone of your voice, Rob, it's time for us to say goodbye. That's it for this programme. For more, find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our Youtube pages, and of course our website: bbclearningenglish.com, where you can find all kinds of other programmes and videos and activities to help you improve your English. Thank you for joining us, and goodbye. Bye! Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Neil. This is the programme where in just six minutes we discuss an interesting topic and teach some related English vocabulary. And joining me to do this is Rob. Hello… err sorry Neil, how long did you say this programme is? Six minutes – it's 6 Minute English, Rob. Right. OK. Sorry, what's your name again? Neil! My name is Neil. Rob, what has happened to your memory?! Sorry, Neil – too many things on my mind, it's affecting my short-term memory, but what I can remember is that in this programme we're talking about improving our memory. We are and I think you might find it quite useful! Storing information is an important function of our brains and scientists are always looking at ways to improve it but also to stop it deteriorating – or becoming worse. Yes, and we all know that memories – that's the noun word for things we remember from the past – are nice to have but also important for remembering who people are, where things are kept and how things look. Soon we'll be discussing a new idea for improving your memory but not before I've set today's quiz question. There are many ways we can improve our memory but one way is through the type of food we eat. According to the BBC Food website, which type of food supports good memory function? Is it… a) eggs b) spinach, or c) bananas? Well, as a kid I was always told that spinach was good for me – Popeye ate it to make him strong – so I'll say b) spinach. Well, I'll have the answer later on. Now, let's talk more about improving our memory. Memory is the ability to encode, store and recall information but a number of factors can affect people's memory processes including health, anxiety, mood, stress and tiredness. That's why, for example, if you're taking an exam it's important to get a good night's sleep and to keep healthy. But Neil, when you're revising for an exam, what helps you to remember facts? I tend to write things down again and again and again and again. Well, that's one way. But people have different styles to help them remember. According to the BBC's iWonder guide, there are three different styles - visual, auditory and kinaesthetic, that's learning by 'doing' and practising something over and over again. That sounds like me. But recently, a new study has come up with a method that could possibly be the best way to improve your memory and that's by drawing. Daryl O'Connor, who's Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds, has been speaking about it on the BBC Radio 4 programme, All In The Mind. See if you can work out why… The authors certainly argue that one of the things that happens by drawing these particular objects, that it leads to this increased contextual representation of the object in one's mind… It makes a lot of intuitive sense – the idea that if you have encoded something in a greater level of detail, you're more likely to remember it… It's much stronger than just remembering writing down the words. OK, so let's try to explain that. Drawing something leads to increased contextual representation of the object. When something is contextual, it is in the situation where it usually exists. So as you draw something you are creating a picture in your mind about what it is, how you use it and where it is used. I wonder if this means artists have good memories… Maybe. Daryl O'Connor says that when you draw you are encoding something in a greater level of detail, more than you would by just writing things down. Encoding is changing information into a form that can be stored and later recalled. That's because as you draw, you're thinking about different aspects of the object. He says it makes intuitive sense – intuitive means it is 'based on feelings rather than facts or proof' - so, you just feel it is the best thing to do. Of course, this is just one more way to improve your memory. I have also heard that doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku can help, especially when you're older. Yes, as we get older we can often have more difficulty retrieving information from our memory - and people with Alzheimer's find it very difficult to encode information – so any way to keep our memory working is a good thing. Basically we need brain training! Brain training and eating the right food Rob! You might remember that earlier I asked you, according to the BBC Food website, which type of food supports good memory function? Is it… a) eggs b) spinach, or c) bananas? And Rob, you said… I do remember and I said b) spinach. And that is sort of the wrong answer. In fact they were all correct – they are all examples of food that can help support good memory. Apparently, foods rich in B vitamins are important as they provide protection for the brain as we age and support good memory function. I think it's time to change my diet! Now on to the vocabulary we looked at in this programme. So today we've been talking about our memory – we use our memory to remember things and memories is the noun for things we remember from the past. Then we discussed a learning style known as kinaesthetic, that is learning by 'doing' and practising something over and over again. We heard from Professor Daryl O'Connor, who talked about contextual representation - when