Dr. Matthew Walker on Sleep for Enhancing Learning, Creativity, Immunity, and Glymphatic System

This episode features Matthew Walker, PhD, who is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and serves as the Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. Formerly, Dr. Walker served as a professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School.

Walker's research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease. One area of interest focuses on identifying "vulnerability windows" during a person's life that make them more susceptible to amyloid-beta deposition and, subsequently, Alzheimer's disease later in life.

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.

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Chapters
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:00:18 - Sleep during development
00:04:14 - Sleep boosts learning
00:13:05 - Learning in contexts
00:18:11 - REM enables creativity
00:23:17 - Dream recollection
00:26:27 - Loneliness
00:35:28 - Impulsiveness
00:38:20 - Psychiatric conditions
00:43:00 - Meditation for insomnia
00:44:09 - Light exposure
00:51:42 - How much sleep is enough?
00:56:08 - Temperature triggers sleep onset and depth
01:02:08 - Panacea
01:09:11 - Immunity & Cancer
01:16:26 - Hormonal imbalance
01:18:40 - Alzheimer's
01:27:59 - Sleep depth
01:30:47 - Sleep apnea
01:33:26 - Preventing dementia
01:36:15 - Sleep changes with age
01:40:34 - Sleep tracking technology
01:43:07 - Blood pressure
01:45:40 - Evolutionary drive
01:48:14 - 4 Pillars of Sleep
01:51:30 - Sleep chronotypes
01:57:50 - Blood sugar regulation
02:04:23 - Appetite & satiety
02:11:10 - Microbiome
02:15:19 - Tips for better sleep
02:20:36 - Alcohol and Caffeine
02:24:05 - Maijuana, CBD, THC
02:26:40 - Sleeping pills
02:31:19 - Cognitive-behavior-therapy for insomnia

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[thejuiceweasel]

Dr. Walker's appearance on Joe Rogan basically changed my everything for me in terms of sleep. I'm in my mid thirties and really feel how a lack of sleep completely wrecks my body. Since I've seen his interviews and read his book, I aim for at least 7 hours of solid sleep, but 8-9 if possible, and man, it makes such a difference, physically AND cognitively. I learn languages, and they stick so much better since I get more sleep, it's almost scary.

[xkilftm]

I have always prioritized and valued my sleep above everything my whole life. I've been accused of sleeping too much by so many people who say, "You can sleep when you're dead, " and now I finally have my affirmation. I always knew sleep was important but not to this degree. Dr. Walker is an immensely great speaker! He is so knowledgeable and eloquent in his descriptions while using very understandable analogies and metaphors to further his point. This was a very informative and incredible talk, however, terrifying as well!

[sergir]

These two people literally saved my life, I'm so excited I found a conversation between both of them

[Joel_G_NZ]

Ahhhh so glad to see this is out. Dr Walker is FANTASTIC and his book is excellent.

[swedesam]

Increasing the human experience & potential with each podcast, Thanks Rhonda!

[sandrabentley]

No one talks about stress, That's a big one for lack of sleep. We all need to slow down, relax our brains, exercise during the day and quit worrying about everything, surrender ourselves to just giving up tension and mind ruminations.

[timregalado]

This guy is impressive. He just spit out detail after detail from so many different studies and experiments for over 2 hours. No question about how much he knows about his area of study. Great interview!

[Thesp]

JRE brought me here ! Ps : Both of you completely changed or should I say, improved my life with all your knowledge !! Ty doctors 🥦😴

[anzelaiv]

Invaluable information. I'm one of the so called life-long DSPD sufferers. This makes me very aware of my sleep patterns. Everything that's mentioned in this interview is so on point, it explains all the problems I was experiencing with health, learning, weight gain, and overal functioning throughout my life. Such a fascinating subject. Thank you!

[kareponX]

I recently purchased Matt's book after seeing him talk on JRE. This was also a great episode (as usual Rhonda). But, what I really want to say is that Matt's book has been the best solution for getting my kids to sleep at night; I'm not kidding, 10 minutes tops! There must be something hypnotic about the large number of long slowly rolling sentences.
Thanks.

[samanthajoslyn]

Thank you for having him on your show! He is so amazing at explaining science to make it easily digestible :)

[gunsandgear]

Watching a podcast on the importance of sleep at 3am from a blue light emitting screen. Shit lol

[Badabinger]

Amazing episode. Would be very interesting to have him on again w. specific focus on solving sleep problems for chronically sleep deprived people.

[StarSlingerUK]

sleeping to podcasts on sleep is very 2019 💫💫💫💫

[josecantu]

As a college student who normally has 5-6 hours sleep from school, work and an internship makes me rethink some of my priorities. Thanks for sharing this!

[dylandavies]

Thank you for another incredible video Rhonda.
Dr. Walker speaks so eloquently and with such passion that he was able to talk about sleep for hours on end without making the audience the least bit drowsy!
The world is very fortunate to have both of you and I personally am grateful for how you have both enriched my life. Thank you again.

[amafuji]

I've always been a big fan of sleep. I've been doing it almost every day for as long as I can remember. I'm happy to learn that it's also good for you.

[TracySteenMoveDaily]

This was unreal informative! Thankyou so much you two, I've learned a lot to help my own clients.

[tomlwallace]

So much info, so many questions! 1) Does the light we need early in the day come through corrective lenses (glasses) or car windows? 2) We make less melatonin as we age, is supplementing melatonin a good idea? 3) How do naps fit into a healthy sleep pattern (I am over 60, so I am questioning for my age group, but interested in all age groups) 4) Binaural beats can help stimulate Delta waves, are they a good idea while we sleep? 5) Re: the lower temperature at night info: Does just not using blankets help out for those without air conditioning? It would be awesome if you could answer these questions on a follow-up session. Thanks for another great podcast!!!!

[johnnyblackrants]

Just realized two of my favorite people in the health space did a podcast together. Can't wait to dive in.