How Our Genes Influence Our Sleep Patterns with Dr. Chelsie Rohrscheib & Mary Helen Rogers

What if your sleep — how much you need, when you feel tired, even how well your brain clears out the debris of the day — is literally written into your DNA?

That’s exactly where today’s conversation starts.

Our guest this week on Catching Zzz’s is Dr. Chelsie Rohrscheib, who is a neuroscientist with a PhD in sleep genetics, a veteran of clinical sleep apnea trials, and the Head Sleep Expert at Wesper, a company changing how people get tested and diagnosed for sleep disorders from the comfort of their own homes.

Chelsie is one of those guests who makes you realize how much is happening while you’re unconscious. 

We talk about genes that control your circadian rhythm, immune responses that flood your brain with signals that make you sleep when you’re sick, and a fascinating process where your brain essentially runs an overnight cleaning crew to flush out the metabolic waste that accumulates during the day. 

Waste that scientists have linked to Alzheimer’s disease when it isn’t cleared properly.

We also get into sleep apnea and if you think you know what that looks like, Chelsie is here to tell you that most people have it completely wrong. 

It doesn’t just affect middle-aged men who snore. It’s dramatically underdiagnosed, especially in women, for reasons that go all the way back to how the diagnostic criteria were originally designed.

MEET DR. CHELSIE ROHRSCHEIB

Dr. Rohrscheib is a sleep expert, neuroscientist, and sleep consultant with over 10 years of experience in the field of sleep. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science with Honors and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience with a specialty in sleep genetics. She also worked in clinical trials where she oversaw sleep apnea research. Besides living and breathing all things sleep, you can usually find Chelsie cuddling up to her cats (who are probably sleeping) and enjoying a good book!

CONNECT WITH DR. CHELSIE ROHRSCHEIB

WEBSITE: https://wesper.co | DR. ROHRSCHEIB’S LINKEDIN: @crohrscheib | WESPER LINKEDIN: wesperco |WESPER INSTAGRAM: @wesper.co