The How and Why of Sleep: Motor Theory and Catecholamine Hypothesis

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Thinking In Psychiatry

The Academy by Psych Scene

2 episodes

1 hour ago

Thinking in Psychiatry is an Academy podcast from Psych Scene featuring short, high-signal audio episodes you can listen to on the go. Each week we break down emerging evidence, evolving clinical frameworks, and complex cases across the lifespan – from psychopharmacology and neurobiology to formulation, systems thinking, and metabolic and sleep psychiatry. Designed for busy clinicians, every episode is grounded in evidence, reviewed by faculty, and focused on one question: how can we practise better psychiatry, starting today?

All content for Thinking In Psychiatry is the property of The Academy by Psych Scene and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Medicine

Health & Fitness,

Mental Health

The How and Why of Sleep: Motor Theory and Catecholamine Hypothesis

Thinking In Psychiatry

9 minutes

1 day ago

The How and Why of Sleep: Motor Theory and Catecholamine Hypothesis

To access all episodes plus 150+ hours of advanced psychiatric education, join the Academy today. Get access here:

https://www.academy.psychscene.com/

In this episode, we explore a groundbreaking 2025 Neuron paper that reframes how sleep is generated in the brain, and why we sleep at all.

Instead of a single “sleep centre,” sleep emerges from a distributed network embedded within motor and autonomic circuits. The authors also propose a unifying “catecholamine hypothesis” explaining sleep’s restorative functions across brain, immune, and metabolic systems.

We break down what this means for clinicians, how it updates classic models of sleep–wake regulation, and why dysfunction in these systems manifests across psychiatry.

To access all episodes of this podcast plus 150+ hours of advanced psychiatric education, join the Academy today. Get access here:

https://www.academy.psychscene.com/