Orfeu Buxton, SSRI cofunded faculty member and associate director at SSRI and CTSI, was featured on The Last Show with David Cooper Podcast in an episode titled “Sleep Quality, Not Quantity” released January 16.
In this 11-minute episode, Buxton, a professor of biobehavioral health and a leading expert on sleep science, discussed foundational insights from his decades of research into human sleep patterns. He emphasized that:
- The quality of sleep, particularly the degree of sleep fragmentation, can be a stronger predictor of next-day cognitive performance than total hours slept, especially in older adults.
- Fragmented sleep is associated with slower mental processing the following day, highlighting that uninterrupted restorative sleep is critical for optimal brain function.
This appearance on a national podcast helps raise awareness of Buxton’s work beyond academic circles and aligns with his longstanding research focus on how sleep health impacts daily functioning and long-term wellbeing.
Buxton directs the Sleep, Health & Society Collaboratory at Penn State, where his research examines the causes and health consequences of chronic sleep deficiency across the lifespan. He has published extensively on sleep and serves as editor-in-chief of the journal Sleep Health. He joined Penn State in 2014 and continues to contribute to interdisciplinary work on sleep and public health.