In this episode 1 of a 6-part special series on sleep with Dr. Matthew Walker, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience and psychology and founder of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of the book “Why We Sleep” discusses the essential role that sleep plays in our health. We cover how sleep affects our hormones, immune system, learning and memory, mood, appetite, and weight regulation. We also discuss what causes the urge to sleep, how sleep is structured throughout the night, and the biology of the different phases of sleep. We also teach you how to determine your individualized sleep needs, including your chronotype (best waking and to-bed time), tips for combat snoring and insomnia, and your QQRT (Quality, Quantity, Regularity, and Timing)—a key framework for optimizing your sleep and therefore daytime energy and focus, and overall health. The next episode in this special series explores how to improve one’s sleep. Use Ask Huberman Lab, our new AI-powered platform, for a summary, clips, and insights from this episode: https://ai.hubermanlab.com/s/tlcwk0am Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/huberman Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/huberman Dr. Matthew Walker Website: https://www.sleepdiplomat.com/ Podcast: https://www.sleepdiplomat.com/podcast "Why We Sleep": https://amzn.to/4a9Tyyl Academic profile: https://psychology.berkeley.edu/people/matthew-p-walker X: https://twitter.com/sleepdiplomat Instagram: https://instagram.com/drmattwalker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sleepdiplomat MasterClass: https://www.masterclass.com/classes/matthew-walker-teaches-the-science-of-better-sleep Journal Articles Coordinated human sleeping brainwaves map peripheral body glucose homeostasis: https://bit.ly/4agGuHn Partial sleep deprivation reduces natural killer cell activity in humans: https://bit.ly/43HpnMC Daylight Saving Time and Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Meta-Analysis: https://bit.ly/49kVmDs Sleepy Punishers Are Harsh Punishers: Daylight Saving Time and Legal Sentences: https://bit.ly/4agG83F Effects of insufficient sleep on circadian rhythmicity and expression amplitude of the human blood transcriptome: https://bit.ly/3xlbHed A systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the relationship between sleep duration/quality, mental toughness and resilience amongst healthy individuals: https://bit.ly/3TLsiz4 Negative effects of restricted sleep on facial appearance and social appeal: https://bit.ly/3xnbGGB Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration: A prospective cohort study: https://bit.ly/4cz6bEG Other Resources TED Talk: https://bit.ly/43Lk66B Chronotype Calculator: https://bit.ly/43MFlFk People Mentioned Allan Rechtschaffen: sleep research pioneer: https://bit.ly/3U1nQxu Timestamps 00:00:00 Importance of Sleep 00:02:24 Sponsors: Eight Sleep, BetterHelp & LMNT 00:06:00 Sleep; Non-REM & REM Sleep 00:11:40 Sleep Cycles, Individuality, Women vs. Men 00:14:49 Tool: Wakefulness in Bed, Insomnia 00:19:08 Non-REM Stages of Sleep 00:27:05 Role of Deep Sleep 00:34:02 Sponsor: AG1 00:35:15 Light Sleep Stages, Hypnogogic Jerks 00:42:00 REM Sleep, Paralysis & Bizarre Dreams; “Falling” Asleep 00:49:09 Tools: Body Position & Sleep; Snoring & Sleep Apnea 00:57:43 Yawning & Theories, Contagion 01:04:03 Nodding Off, Afternoon & Postprandial Dip 01:08:46 Sponsor: InsideTracker 01:09:51 Sleep, Animals & Evolution 01:14:09 Poor Sleep & Health Consequences, Sleep Deprivation 01:27:13 Positive Effects of Good Sleep, Health Improvements 01:31:56 Sleep & Mood; Appetite & Weight Management 01:42:55 Sleep Deprivation & Looking Tired, “Beauty Sleep” 01:47:57 Tool: Getting Good Sleep, QQRT Macros, Quantity & Quality 01:56:45 Tool: Sleep Regularity, Mortality Risk 02:03:15 Tool: Sleep Timing, Chronotypes 02:14:21 Chronotypes & Insomnia, Circadian Rhythm, Shift Work 02:20:31 Tool: Sleep Tests, Alarm Clock, Micro-Sleeps 02:27:27 Sleep Inertia & Waking; Afternoon Dip, Optimum Performance 02:34:19 Causes of Sleep: Circadian Rhythm, Sleep Pressure 02:43:02 Adenosine & Sleepiness 02:46:13 Tool: Growth Hormone & Deep Sleep 02:50:47 Cortisol & Circadian Rhythm, “Tired But Wired” 02:57:24 Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter #HubermanLab #Science #Sleep Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com/ Disclaimer: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer