#650: 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

The Tim Ferriss Show

Alzheimer's Disease - Is Sleep a Missing Piece in the Explanatory Puzzle?

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Sleep is a missing piece in the explanatory puzzle of aging an Alzheimer's disease. We've been approaching this not by using sleeping pills and we may come onto those things. But we've been developing some technology called direct current brain stimulation, which sounds like the stuff of science fiction. It's actually science fact where you apply these pads to your head and you insert a small amount of voltage into the brain. Could we restore back some deep sleep and sort of salvage aspects of learning and memory function? That's one of our goals.

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Matthew Walker, PhD (@sleepdiplomat), is professor of neuroscience at the University of California Berkeley and founder and director of the school’s Center for Human Sleep Science. Dr. 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, Dr. Walker was awarded the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Achievements. Dr. Walker’s research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease. He has been featured on numerous television and radio outlets including 60 Minutes, Nat Geo TV, NOVA Science, NPR, and the BBC. Dr. Walker is also scientific advisor to Oura, a sleep-tracking ring.

Dr. Walker hosts the 5-star-rated podcast The Matt Walker Podcast, which is all about sleep, the brain, and the body.

Resources from this episode: https://tim.blog/2023/01/18/matthew-walker-sleep/

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[05:55] Sleep and Alzheimer’s disease.

[19:55] What causes the decline of deep sleep as we age?

[24:36] Are there any known species that don’t require sleep?

[29:15] Brain stimulation for more deep sleep, less insomnia.

[41:01] Tips for better sleep without laboratory budget or access.

[51:45] Ideal types of exercise for promoting deep sleep.

[53:51] Matt’s updated thoughts on caffeine and sleep.

[1:11:12] Cannabis (CBD, THC, CBN) and sleep.

[1:30:18] A crowdsourcing request of listeners.

[1:36:17] If the bed’s a-rocking…

[1:41:45] The Da Vinci Code magic sleep device.

[1:46:04] DARPA innovation.

[1:46:32] Ensuring proper function in the glymphatic system.

[1:50:42] Psychedelics and sleep.

[2:01:20] How sleep affects food intake and weight fluctuation.

[2:10:46] Orexin, I reckon.

[2:22:11] Fainting goats and narcolepsy.

[2:25:36] Modafinil.

[2:30:32] How sleep medications affect sleep quality.

[2:36:16] Trazodone.

[2:46:26] Perilous polypharmacy.

[2:49:04] Pregabalin and gabapentin.

[2:54:33] The psychological value of emergency sleep medicine for insomniacs.

[2:58:16] CBTI and the balancing role of pharmacology.

[2:59:56] Parting thoughts and what to expect from a future round two.

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