“Most of us assume that sleep evolved. But why should we make that assumption? Why isn’t it that sleep was the default state when life emerged, and it was wakefulness that evolved?”
— Dr. Matthew Walker
Matthew Walker Ph.D. (@sleepdiplomat) is professor of neuroscience at the University of California Berkeley and founder and director of the school’s Center for Human Sleep Science. Walker is the author of The New York Times and international bestseller Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams which was recently listed by Bill Gates as one of his top five books of the year. His TED Talk, “Sleep is Your Superpower,” has garnered more than 17 million views.
He has received numerous funding awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health and is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2020, Walker was awarded the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Achievements. Walker’s research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease. He has been featured on numerous television and radio outlets including CBS’ “60 Minutes,” National Geographic Channel, NOVA Science, NPR, and the BBC. He is also the host of the 5-star-rated podcast The Matt Walker Podcast, which is all about sleep, the brain, and the body.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
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Want to hear another podcast episode with someone who won’t rest until you get a good night’s sleep? Listen to my conversation with neuroscientist and Stanford University professor Dr. Andrew Huberman in which we discussed timing circadian biology to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative, the ideal time for morning light exposure, what he recommends over melatonin as a sleep aid, the non-sleep deep rest of yoga nidra, using physiological sighs to reduce stress, the future of beneficial brain change, cage diving with great white sharks, and much more.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
- Connect with Dr. Matthew Walker:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
SHOW NOTES
Editor’s note: timestamps will be added shortly.
- Sleep and Alzheimer’s disease.
- What causes the decline of deep sleep as we age?
- Are there any known species that don’t require sleep?
- Brain stimulation for more deep sleep, less insomnia.
- Tips for better sleep without laboratory budget or access.
- Ideal types of exercise for promoting deep sleep.
- Matt’s updated thoughts on caffeine and sleep.
- Cannabis (CBD, THC, CBN) and sleep.
- A crowdsourcing request from listeners.
- If the bed’s a-rocking…
- The Da Vinci Code magic sleep device.
- DARPA innovation.
- Ensuring proper function in the glymphatic system.
- Psychedelics and sleep.
- How sleep affects food intake and weight fluctuation.
- Orexin, I reckon.
- Fainting goats and narcolepsy.
- Modafinil.
- How sleep medications affect sleep quality.
- Trazodone.
- Serotonin type 2A antagonism.
- Perilous polypharmacy.
- Pregabalin and gabapentin.
- The psychological value of emergency sleep medicine for insomniacs.
- CBTI and the balancing role of pharmacology.
- Parting thoughts and what to expect from a future round two.
MORE DR. MATTHEW WALKER QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW
“If sleep is a missing piece in the explanatory puzzle of aging and Alzheimer’s disease, then maybe we can do something about it. Sleep is a modifiable factor.”
— Dr. Matthew Walker
“In biology it’s very rare that you get a free lunch. And when you fight biology, you normally lose.”
— Dr. Matthew Walker
“Night after night, if you’re not cleansing the brain, it becomes like compounding interest on a loan, that it continues to escalate time and time again, night after night. “
— Dr. Matthew Walker
“Most of us assume that sleep evolved. But why should we make that assumption? Why isn’t it that sleep was the default state when life emerged, and it was wakefulness that evolved?”
— Dr. Matthew Walker
PEOPLE MENTIONED
DISCLAIMER: I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on the Internet. None of the content in this podcast constitutes medical advice. Please consult your doctor before considering anything we discuss in this episode.
The post Dr. Matthew Walker, All Things Sleep — How to Improve Sleep, How Sleep Ties Into Alzheimer’s Disease and Weight Gain, and How Medications (Ambien, Trazodone, etc.), Caffeine, THC/CBD, Psychedelics, Exercise, Smart Drugs, Fasting, and More Affect Sleep (#650) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
This content was originally published here.
