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Peter Attia MDPeter Attia MD

#47–Matt Walker, Ph.D. on Sleep (Part 1 of 3): Dangers of poor sleep, dementia risk, mental health..

Full title: #47 – Matthew Walker, Ph.D., on sleep – Part I of III: Dangers of poor sleep, Alzheimer’s risk, mental health, memory consolidation, and more Original release date: 4/1/19 In part 1 of this 3 part series, Matthew Walker, professor of neuroscience at UC Berkeley and expert on sleep, describes the different stages, and cycles, of sleep, including what he calls the 4 pillars of sleep, and how they contribute to memory consolidation and numerous important pathways to mental health. We also get into the dangers of chronic sleep deprivation, such as the development of dementia, and the more acute dangers of sleep deprivation like fatal car crashes which are most often caused by drowsy driving. We also discuss the different and important roles of REM vs. non-REM sleep, and the impact that bad sleep habits can have specifically on those sleep stages. We discuss: -Matthew’s background and interest in sleep [5:00]; -Sleep and Alzheimer’s disease, and the 4 pillars of sleep [11:15]; -Stages of sleep, sleep cycles, and brainwaves [40:15]; -Memory and sleep, and the risk of insufficient REM sleep [54:45]; -Evolutionary reasons to sleep [1:01:00]; -The early riser vs. the night owl, and tips for overcoming jet lag [1:09:15]; -Is there one type or stage of sleep that is most important? [1:16:30]; -The dangers of drowsy driving [1:25:45]; -The timeliness of Matthew’s book, and how the conversation of sleep has changed over the past several years [1:34:15]; and -More. Show notes page: https://peterattiamd.com/matthewwalker1/ About: The Peter Attia Drive is a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking…and a few other things. With over 10 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more. Peter is the founder of Attia Medical, PC, a medical practice with offices in San Diego and New York City, focusing on the applied science of longevity. The practice applies nutritional biochemistry, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, techniques to increase distress tolerance, lipidology, pharmacology, and four-system endocrinology to increase lifespan (delaying the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life). Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com/ Subscribe to receive exclusive subscriber-only content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/ Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter/ Connect with Peter on: Facebook: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDFB Twitter: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDTW Instagram: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDIG Subscribe to The Drive: Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveApplePodcasts Overcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveOvercast Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheDriveSpotify Google Play: http://bit.ly/TheDriveGooglePlay

Peter AttiahostMatthew Walkerguest
Jan 9, 20201h 43mWatch on YouTube ↗

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At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Matt Walker Explains Why Sleep Underpins Brain Health, Mood, and Safety

  1. Walker argues that the evidence linking insufficient sleep to Alzheimer's risk is now causal, citing the brain's glymphatic cleaning system and a human study in which one night of lost deep sleep raised amyloid and tau levels.
  2. The two walk through the brainwave signatures of wakefulness, light non-REM, deep non-REM, and REM sleep, and explain how deep sleep dominates early in the night while REM dominates later.
  3. Walker says REM sleep acts as overnight emotional therapy, and that insufficient sleep is a strong predictor of suicidal thoughts, attempts, and completion in teenagers.
  4. Walker describes animal deprivation studies and the genetic disorder fatal familial insomnia as evidence that sleep loss is fatal, and calls sleep the foundation under diet and exercise.
  5. They discuss drowsy driving, which Walker says causes more road accidents than drugs and alcohol combined, and how average sleep time has fallen sharply since the 1940s.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Sleep loss may be a major lifestyle driver of Alzheimer's risk

Walker says the evidence is causal in humans and animals, including a study where removing deep sleep for one night raised amyloid and tau in spinal fluid the next day.

Deep sleep powers the brain's waste-clearance system

Walker describes the glymphatic system, which kicks into high gear in deep sleep, with glial cells shrinking so cerebrospinal fluid can wash out metabolic waste including beta amyloid.

Sleep has four pillars, not just duration

Walker lists regularity, continuity, quantity, and quality, and notes that eight hours in bed does not guarantee eight hours of good-quality deep sleep.

Cutting sleep short disproportionately removes REM

Deep non-REM sleep is concentrated in the first half of the night and REM in the second, so losing two hours of an eight-hour night can cost up to 70% of REM sleep.

REM sleep acts as overnight emotional therapy

Walker says REM recalibrates emotional networks involving the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, and that insufficient sleep is a strong predictor of suicidality in teens.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Sleep is the price that we pay for wakefulness essentially.

— Matthew Walker

Sleep is emotional first aid, bottom line, period.

— Matthew Walker

It is the greatest life support system that you could ever wish for. It is a remarkable health insurance policy, and what's great is that it's largely democratic, it's mostly free, and in terms of a prescription from a doctor, it's largely painless.

— Matthew Walker

Sleep is the foundation on which those two other things sit. It's not the third pillar of good health. I think it is the foundation.

— Matthew Walker

Deep sleep is a brain state of long-distance information transfer.

— Matthew Walker

Sleep and Alzheimer's riskGlymphatic system, amyloid and tauFour pillars of sleepSleep stages and brainwavesREM sleep and mental healthDrowsy driving and microsleepsDecline in average sleep time

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