National treasure Terry Wogan will be missed, especially by those who remember his much-loved breakfast show, and I would argue that by tuning into Wake Up To Wogan, loyal listeners placed their trust in him in more ways than you might think.

In the woozy semi-conscious period before we awaken, Wogan’s words were given special access to our unconscious thoughts. The brain uses nearly as much energy while asleep as during wakefulness, and the words we hear while we sleep still reach the brain’s language centres, where their meanings can become woven into our knowledge without the use of our conscious minds.

Sleep cycles become shorter and shallower as morning approaches – which means that in the moments before we wake up, we are particularly vulnerable to facts and ideas, with no chance for critical processing. It’s a form of hypnotic suggestion.

As the day went on, listeners may have found Wogan’s words returning to them, subconsciously triggered by other thoughts or spontaneously arising, without quite remembering having heard them earlier. It takes a particular kind of voice and character to be given the privilege of access to our unconscious minds, and luckily he earned it.

Dr Daniel Glaser is director of Science Gallery at King’s College London