Dr. Rhonda Patrick talks to Dr. Matthew Walker about Enhancing Learning, Creativity, Immunity, and Glymphatic System

[Matt]

"In this episode, we discuss how sleep plays a critical role in learning and memory, in the regulation of emotions including loneliness, in the function of the immune system, preventing the formation of amyloid beta plaques in the brain and Alzheimer's disease, glucose regulation and insulin sensitivity. We also discuss how certain dietary macronutrients affect sleep, the effect of sleeping pills and alcohol on sleep, the accuracy of sleep trackers, and so much more."

I haven't watched the entire interview yet but there's a lot of new information here that he hadn't talked about in previous interviews.

 

 

 

[mccoy]

I've been listening to many of the numerous interviews with professor Walker, he's been very busy disseminating his ideas in the interwebs.

All the info he provides is extremely interesting and convincing, within the limits of practicality I'm trying to apply his suggestions.

The necessity and balance of both deep, stage 4 sleep and REM sleep is clearly explained.

Personally, I have a very fragmented sleep, with very frequent brief awakenings in the night. I've been like this all my life. Probably there si soem adaptation mechanism in the brain which escapes research, since so far I suffered no particular problems with that.

I did suffer problems when my sleep was very irregular because of commuting, double jobs and so on. I remember that impaired my digestive system for a few years.

[Matt]

I've tried to make improvements to my sleep since listening to his interviews. I stop drinking caffeine earlier in the day and try to not shift my sleep too much in either direction. Naturally, I am a night person and fall to sleep around 4 am, so it's hard to always get perfect sleep because of the noise around the house. But most of the time I sleep well... if I'm allowed to sleep on my own schedule.

One interesting thing I learned from the discussion was that you lose deep sleep if you stay awake beyond your natural bedtime. I thought you would still go through all the cycles, regardless. And it works the other way too. That was eye-opening to me and I keep it in mind now.

But I still find it difficult to be strict about going to bed when I'm tired. I often find myself staying up a few hours later than my normal bedtime from watching a movie, podcast, gaming, or working. 

But yeah, he has some super interesting interviews. Easy to listen to as well. 🙂 I think this is one of the best discussions from the ones I've seen of him being interviewed.

[mccoy]

2 hours ago, Matt said:

But I still find it difficult to be strict about going to bed when I'm tired. I often find myself staying up a few hours later than my normal bedtime from watching a movie, podcast, gaming, or working. 

 

I think I remember that he said there are genetic variations where one phenotype has early optimum sleeping times (early bird), whereas another sleeps better late (night owl). And the middle ground. And that of course presently society favours the early birds phenotype.
 

 

[TomBAvoider]

I don't know about this guy. He certainly is promoting himself all over the place. But I'm quite sceptical about his assertions. Yes, sleep is important, but I don't see this guy as any kind of trustworthy guide here. I've followed quite a bit of research on sleep, and there are studies that contradict his assertions, which he does not address. Just another self-promoter as far as I can see. Any subject that's a big concern to people, whether sleep, obesity, longevity, cancer or whatnot will attract its share of self promoters and hucksters. You've got to be very discriminating in whom you place your trust. Personally I trust this guy not at all. YMMV, and to each his/her own.

[mikeccolella]

Spot on Tom, these self promoters just recycle what we already know and spin it this way or that. They are all over the place. The basics for diet and sleep are not a mystery. However the underlying dynamics wrt sleep are still not fully understood. There are also hucksters selling worthless supplements/tools like the dreem headband etc. for diet/health and sleep.

[mccoy]

Well, objectively, his credentials are such that we are guaranteed he's not a charlatan.

Quote

Matthew Paul Walker is a British scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.^[2] His research focuses on the impact of sleep on human health and disease. He was previously a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is also the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. 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. He has published over 100 scientific research studies and has been featured on numerous television and radio outlets, including 60 Minutes, National Geographic, NOVA scienceNOW, The Joe Rogan Experience, NPR and the BBC.

I agree that not everything he says may hold for everyone, especially so the alleged very inexorable need for many hours of sleep. But the details he delves into are incredible.

Also, pls provide other references on sleep, I know about Kirk Parsley and none else, I'd like to dive more into this fascinating subject.

[Matt]

I'm wondering you guys watched the entire video? From what I remember, most of what they talked about was clinical data in humans.

Which parts of the video do you disagree with?

[Matt]

Talks at Google
Published on 12 Jul 2019

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life, health and longevity and yet it is increasingly neglected in twenty-first-century society, with devastating consequences: every major disease in the developed world - Alzheimer's, cancer, obesity, diabetes - has very strong causal links to deficient sleep.

Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why its absence is so damaging to our health. Compared to the other basic drives in life - eating, drinking, and reproducing - the purpose of sleep remained elusive.

Professor Matthew Walker discusses with Matt Brittin twenty years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters, how caffeine and alcohol affect sleep and why our sleep patterns change across a lifetime -- this is a talk that will change how you think about bedtime!

Moderated by Matt Brittin.

 

Edited July 12, 2019 by Matt