What is Homeostat (or Sleep Homeostat)?

Question
You have heard the terms homeostat and sleep homeostat. What do these terms mean?

Answer
"Homeostat (Sleep Homeostat): A neurobiologic structure or circuit that is believed to regulate sleep quality and quantity based on the amount and/or quality of prior wakefulness." (Taken from page 151 of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of Insomnia by Perlis et al.)

"Blessed are those drowsy ones: for they shall soon nod to sleep." (Taken from page 38 of Thus Spake Zarathustra (Squid Classics 2017).)

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