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Gemma King

Dr Jemma King is an Australian behavioural scientist, sleep researcher, and author of Sleep First (Wiley), honorary research fellow at the University of Queensland and advisor to McKinsey & Co.

Oct 22, 2026

Project 100

Project 100

Sleep Expert WARNS: Going to Bed Late Is Quietly Shortening Your Life

Oct 22 · 1h 9m

Mark Bouris
Mark BourisHOST
39:05
But imagination is the one I want to just sort of go into because some people might imagine that the worst thing is going to happen at work tomorrow.
Gemma KingGUEST
39:13
Yes.
Gemma KingGUEST
39:14
So for instance, they put people in a scanner and they show them a picture of a white bear.
Gemma KingGUEST
39:19
So a visual cortex litter, then they said, imagine a white bear, same visual cortex, similar activation happened in the brain.
Gemma KingGUEST
39:28
And so your brain's this prediction machine.
Gemma KingGUEST
39:31
It's always working out what's the most expensive and what's the safest thing you can do to keep you alive.
Gemma KingGUEST
39:36
And it's a balance because producing stress hormones is expensive.
Mark Bouris
Mark BourisHOST
41:49
After a certain amount of time.

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