Are We Born to Sleep Differently? The Science of Female Sleep

Sleep is not one-size-fits-all, and for women, the evidence is increasingly clear that biology plays a central role in how, when, and how well we sleep. Yet the mechanisms underlying sex differences in sleep are only beginning to be fully understood, and women have historically been underrepresented in sleep research.In this first joint episode between the European Sleep Research Society (ESRS) and the European Insomnia Network(EIN), Dr. Laura Palagini, psychiatrist and sleep medicine expert at the Psychiatric Clinic, University Hospital of Pisa interviews Dr. Tarja Stenberg, senior researcher and leader of Sleep Team Helsinki at the University of Helsinki, whose landmark research helped establish adenosine as a key molecule in the regulation of sleep homeostasis. Together, they explore the science of female sleep across the lifespan, from the circadian and homeostatic forces that govern our sleep drive, to how hormonal shifts at puberty, across the menstrual cycle, during pregnancy, and at menopause reshape sleep architecture and vulnerability to insomnia.Why do women report poorer sleep quality despite often sleeping longer than men? How does the body's homeostatic drive to sleep differ between the sexes, and what does that mean for how we understand and treat insomnia in women? These questions, and more, are explored in a conversation grounded in decades of sleep neuroscience.