Guest Series | Dr. Matt Walker: How to Structure Your Sleep, Use Naps & Time Caffeine

This is episode 3 of a 6-part special series on sleep with Dr. Matthew Walker, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and leading public educator about the role of sleep in health, disease and performance.

We explain how our sleep architecture changes as we age. We also cover how childhood development and aging affect sleep biology and needs. We also discuss whether polyphasic sleep (multiple short sleep periods) is beneficial.

Then, we discuss naps, including their positive benefits, individual variability, those who should not nap, and alternative rest states like non-sleep deep rest. Dr. Walker shares protocols to optimize nap duration, timing and effectiveness.

We also explore the effects of caffeine on sleep and other health aspects, as well as the optimal timing for caffeine intake.

This episode describes many actionable science-based tools for optimizing sleep, naps and caffeine use for better health and performance.

The next episode in this special series explores the relationship between sleep, memory, and creativity.

Articles

• In short photoperiods, human sleep is biphasic (Journal of Sleep Research)
• Sleep-Dependent Facilitation of Episodic Memory Details (PLOS ONE)
• A Role for REM Sleep in Recalibrating the Sensitivity of the Human Brain to Specific Emotions (Cerebral Cortex)
• Sleep, alcohol, and caffeine in financial traders (PLOS ONE)
• The alerting effects of caffeine, bright light and face washing after a short daytime nap (Clinical Neurophysiology)
• Adverse impact of polyphasic sleep patterns in humans: Report of the National Sleep Foundation sleep timing and variability consensus panel (Sleep Health)
• Sleep deficiency and motor vehicle crash risk in the general population: a prospective cohort study (BMC Medicine)

Other Resources

• Crew Factors in Flight Operations IX: Effects of Planned Cockpit Rest on Crew Performance and Alertness in Long-Haul Operations (NASA Technical Memorandum)
• The Matt Walker Podcast: Insomnia Series
• Polyphasic Sleep Community
• Dymaxion Sleep (TIME Magazine)
• Acute Sleep Deprivation and Risk of Motor Vehicle Crash Involvement (AAA)

Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned

• Jocko Willink: How to Become Resilient, Forge Your Identity & Lead Others‍
• Guest Series | Dr. Matthew Walker: The Biology of Sleep & Your Unique Sleep Needs (Episode 1)
• Guest Series | Dr. Matthew Walker: Protocols to Improve Your Sleep (Episode 2)

People Mentioned

• Howard Roffwarg: sleep researcher pioneer
• Michael Pollan: author and journalist
• David Dinges: professor of psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania
• Mark Rosekind: NASA expert