Why We Sleep: Science of Sleep & Dreams | Matthew Walker | Talks at Google

Professor Matthew Walker, Director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab discusses the latest discoveries about sleep and how it impacts our life, wellness, and lifespan.
Get the book here: goo.gl/Xc4aFh

[@unselfme]

Matthew is an unbelievably good speaker: tone of voice, pitch, pace, choice of words, it is absolutely amazing. So much to learn from him beyond sleep.

[@GrowthMindsetChannel]

I couldn't agree with you more, I recently listened to the audio version of his book Why We Sleep and I was so sad that he didn't narrate it haha! I'll forgive him though because the book was awesome :)

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

I totally agree. One thing I noticed, that's difficult for many speakers to do and feels very awkward yourself when speaking, is proper and appropriate pausing.

[@NWinnVR]

He's also cute af~

[@painfullyhuman]

.. and I would like to start off with testicles.

[@subliminallyinc]

that's because because he gets enough sleep...

[@edisjd]

Sleep is vital, somehow it's viewed as a negative in today's society

[@outlaw565]

I once was had sleep deprivation for about 3 months. Getting maybe 3 hrs good sleep a night. It destroyed my life basically. Took me months to recover. I believe everything Matt saying. Thanks Matt! Your work is important!

[@philmaturanodrums]

I lived in Argentina for four years as a kid. There you have the option to go to school in the morning or in the afternoon! Amazing! I went to the afternoon school and was never happier as a kid

[@apolloapostolos5127]

Phil Maturano I’m super happy for. I’m keeping my eye out here in America for schools that choose to accommodate my future kids. Especially now with your experience being so great. 👍👍 After listening to Matthew Walker talk with Dr Rhonda Patrick on FoundMyFitness, as soon as I can afford it, the family is getting their genetics 🧬 analyzed to determine our chronotypes!

[@thebodykeepsthescore2828]

There sounds brilliant! However how long were the school hours? So say you started in the afternoon, would it be 12-6 for example?

[@ellesmith1539]

@ Phil Maturano, that’s truly amazing! ❤️😍👌i stayed in Germany twice while on school trips. They are up extremely early @ eat breakfast in the school. It’s provided by the school & ensures the kids are fed & ready for learning. It’s also a very communal thing too.

[@lauratabares9143]

Omg. I thought this was something that happened in all countries. I’m South American (Colombia) and schools with both schedules are all around the place, even low-income public schools

[@BradiKal61]

I read his book, and now Im literally afraid to not get enough sleep. I am thoroughly convinced that lack of sleep is to blame for the generally crappy health that Americans and many other people around the world are suffering.

[@davidmolina5758]

It's certainly one of the reasons, but I'll put it together with nutrition, stress and physical activity. And regarding what you just mentioned about being "afraid" of not getting enough sleep I just listened to the podcast that Dr. Matt made with Dr. Huberman in the Huberman Lab Podcast and he talk about the fact that being "too much concerned" about getting a good sleep can backfire and make you feel anxious and stressed about your sleep and this can be detrimental. This happened to me too. If you accept a piece of advice, here it goes: try to apply better conditions for your sleep every day but don't try to be a "perfect sleeper" in a week or a month. Focus on gradual improvements.

[@cfoster6804]

He scared me to sleep!

[@benne_murkha]

This makes me wonder how I am still alive.

[@MyrtleBeachWebAngel]

word

[@naznindeeba]

🤣

[@cfoster6804]

Same!

[@calvinhart1107]

Not for long. Maybe.

[@tigruana]

I've been working in a place for 3 years of constant sleep deprivation regularly doing 20 hr work marathons with half hour naps here and there, I've no excuse for that, but that's the time I started loosing hair on alarming scale, I was looking like a professional alcoholic, of course I was consuming lots of bread and sugar too, but sleep improved my health considerable after quitting the job and sleeping well for several months.

[@kevinmata7134]

Watch this twice. Once for the info Another time to observe how well he planned this lecture. Great speaker.

[@greenspand]

I am working on my sleep patterns after seeing this talk.

[@dailyDosageofEng]

His articulacy and eloquency is just striking me more than what he spoke on regard of sleep(Great message though). Especially the Q&A session where the spectators posed questions with slumber American-accent filled with filler words and him responding with rich communication skills has profound contrasting differences.

[@ch-zf4zl]

Matthew is the only man i ever seen so well rested lol just look at his under eyes, they look so bright!

[@BeniaminSzabo]

Random person: Why do we need to sleep? Doctor: TESTICLES!!!

[@ujjawalagrawal4127]

My dad works for google and saw this live and since then he was takn sleep so much more seriourly.

[@aqg7vy]

The infuriating stupidity of waking up for school at 5am.

[@senyorty]

Final Boss ur stupid... I know it’s stupid to wake up at 5 and go to geometry at 7am I do it but if u sleep at 9 or 8 you will be fine so ur wrong

[@bear5945]

Im so fucking mad at this response holy shit

[@grandem2008]

@@bear5945 what does that response even mean xD

[@buddyrennie141]

@@senyorty A lot of your sleep cycle is predominantly hard wired. Teenagers later than adults.

[@qthirteen13]

Final Boss I wake up for exercise at 5am...much more fun than school...lol

[@alirlandes2238]

the irony of watching this during another all-night KZbin tangent..........:(

[@cparwati]

The book is AMAZINGGGGGG.... Decades of precious knowledge that we never realized. Sleep is super super important !

[@DG-nc1jc]

By listening to this, he made me fall asleep... So it's a win win!

[@ankushpandey7045]

The way he started the talk is same as his TED talk!

[@user-si3gu8pm6j]

Well as a TBI/Ataxic (8 mos) “survivor” and Diabetic (II) (5 yrs) I’ll just say this seems true - Anxiety/Depression and worse seems closely linked to sleep loss, immune deficiency and social isolation (can’t relate or connect to anyone anymore)

[@hendcorp]

I watch this video at 10:30pm my local time and it makes me wants to go bed as soon as possible and continue watch it on tomorrow morning. See you tomorrow. :D

[@ilhamapriannone131]

Hendra Setiawan bisa terjemahin Ga Maksudnya bang ?

[@qthirteen13]

Hendra Setiawan I would join you....but the testicle talk scared the semen outta me....lol

[@ellesmith1539]

@@qthirteen13 very good!😂👌

[@oliviawoods5418]

One of the best speakers ever....let's learn from him for our public speaking. His research is brilliant too!

[@Amyjo.global]

I love Mathew. Wow, he is so clear and precise. Full of knowledge. Just such a delight to watch. Thank you!

[@jthomas4361]

BRILLIANT!!! I had no idea how important sleep actually was. Then it's very scary what we're doing to our body's when we don't get it, I'm also a health freak so this seriously scared my especially the testicals bit haha. For the 1st time in a while I've had a good night's sleep. Last night I had 0 caffeine in the day, I turned off my electronics at night, looked at no LEDS screens 2 hours before bed and just chose to sit and read in a dimmed room 1hr before bed (usually watch tv or on smart phone) my sleep increased from average 4-6 hours to last night 10 hours and I feel great. I feel like this video has changed my life. Thank you Professor Matthew Walker.

[@anonymous-xy5ue]

People really don't take sleep seriously enough

[@senyorty]

Yes but also 10 hours is too much I think you should do 7:30-8

[@HuShang]

@@senyorty No, 10 hours is very common after not drinking caffeine

[@qthirteen13]

Jivan despite the testicle scare....I still can’t get more sleep....I just do 10 hour sleeps once a week on the weekend....I’m just too addicted to watching KZbin until 11pm...smh

[@apolloapostolos5127]

Seriously with you on this. I switched to books at night, used his room association technique on the FoundMyFitness episode, and adapted chronobiology insights by not eating past 5pm if possible.

[@DharmendraRaiMindMap]

I sacrificed my sleep time to see this !

[@thejarshverma6046]

Dharmendra Rai very ironic!!

[@99dynasty]

The definition of an investment;)

[@vascodegama5829]

Dharmendra Rai sounds like u sacrificed some testicle . 👍

[@qthirteen13]

Dharmendra Rai lol...me too....but holy cow....that testicle shrinkage at the beginning scared me even more ... and yet it just made it harder to go to sleep!

[@riothecat5191]

Literally same

[@sleepsciencevideos]

Sleep deprivation can can very detrimental consequences for your physical, mental and emotional health. Make sure in 2020 you prioritise adequate sleep.

[@PKLambooy]

Been reading the book; eye opening and sobering as I reflect on my decades of insufficient sleep.

[@alearner9002]

sheer brilliance , many people are not aware of how deprived they are of sleep, thank you sir!!

[@BritishArmyTributes]

This did not feel like almost 55 minutes. Fantastically articulate and well structured speech. Some shocking findings in here!

[@kenmken]

Mathew is very knowledgeable, into his field, and a great communicator. Sleep always been a very interesting thing to me and it's awesome seeing someone like him studying and spreading information in this field.

[@sindys1856]

Absolutely the best lecture I have ever heard. I might be over 30 years too late. I have had chronic fatigue insomnia for over 25 years. I learned that sleep was an important factor amongst other things long time ago. I have been on sleep medications since then which still only gave me 5-6 hours sleep every night. I have been a caffeine addict because I felt that was the only thing that gave me noticeable amount of energy. After doing all kinds of diets supplements and exercises I realise sleep is the single most important thing above anything else. I have such a lot of memory problems, fatigue and loads of other symptoms. I don't know if I can reverse 30 years of damage, but If I can halt full blown dementia and other conditions, I will be happy. So my New Year resolution is to work on my sleep a top priority. Which means- exercise early , go in the sun, good diet, meditate, try to control stresses, no caffeine after 2 and try to wean off it. No blue light after 9. Go to bed by 10 and sleep in the dark. Try to wake up naturally and work on getting 8 hours sleep. Thank you so so much!

[@alexibracey]

It is never too late SIndy. It is about your commitment level. What changes are you prepared to make to get a good nights sleep? You will see the results equal to the effort you put in. "If you think you can, you are right. If you think you can't, you are also right. If you need directio/guidance/ a game plan, there are health coaches ut there to support you. All the best!

[@peterpiper5300]

how are you doing now? i hope you can give an update.

[@faisalalzhrani.4524]

Man I have been suffering from chronic insomnia for 2 years and I wanna kill my self I feel nothing anymore I became more lazy and depressed my life going on and I can do nothing 💔

[@thoranisornmongkun8523]

Go practice wimhof's method lol

[@wwtextserviciosdetraduccio4881]

Doing meditation and stopping your impulsive brain thinking, as I can see it's reflected in the way you write, will help you a lot. just stop the impulsive thinking of your brain.

[@user-dv4rn7gh5r]

When I got my sleep hygiene habits into a routine which I've maintained for the last 10 years, back when I was 38, in roughly 4 months time I lost most of my unhealthy weight and literally de-aged in appearance by about 10 years or more. I had sleep apnea as well and began treating it at that time, 2013, but it was such a drastic change that my boss looked at my old badge photo and then looked at me and said, weird, you look 10 years older in this photo and then coworkers and friends were calling me a vampire. They still do. Which means a lot of them aren't sleeping right either.

[@watawatan0w]

Working in Japanese school system. Students in their final year of junior highschool before going to HS, go to bed after 00:00 midnight and wake up around 5-6am. Have a full day of classes, then club activities until 6pm, then majority of them have cram school until 10pm. Followed by going home, doing HW, studying, and repeating it over again. Some days they have to wake up earlier to do morning sports club practice. Every day they do morning practice, their first 2 lessons are absolutely pointless as their motivation and energy is non-existent. But the school system and the stupidity of the teachers who perpetuate this is what causes this from happening. No wonder there is so much suicide and depression among student here.

[@vidyakane4741]

Thank you very much for this profound message, Mr. Matthew Walker !! I just ordered your book !

[@terrizimmerman5524]

Very much appreciated you telling us when to look away. How I wish everyone would be this considerate. Some of us cannot deal with animal suffering. Thank you.

[@hellyt6167]

he is incredible, loving the book so far

[@geoffmobile]

Great talk! I shared it with my family and colleagues. I agree with the effects of lack of sleep that Dr. Walker talks about in this video. Having started getting good sleep a couple of years ago, I have found it has made a world of difference.

[@Phuzz828]

So far as a society to help combat this problem we have made drinking vast amounts of obscure coffee trendy & now get addicted to caffeine at an earlier age so we can continue getting woken up by our alarm clocks to put ourselves immediately in a stress response, not even mentioning the rest of the day.

[@zanzibartigray995]

Glad he touched the point on alcohol and sleep! Probably could have upped my gpa somewhat if I slept sober 2 additional nights a month than I did otherwise :/

[@kevinworley7096]

The opening lines made so many things clear for me

[@pacosamo]

Mind blowing book and inspiring talk. Someone should tell to Matthew that non other than Thom Yorke can´t stop raving about his book "Why We Sleep". Thank you Matthew for this outstanding scientific contribution.

[@ssing7113]

I love this intro and getting his audio book tonight.

[@wowwowwow185]

i love sleep its my favourite pass time just chilling in bed after hard weeks work pure heaven ps had depression and anxiety in the past mostly down to burning the candle both ends learned the hard way ,,

[@andrefreire6726]

It's funny how they all turn their heads in sync at 51:23

[@tamimyousefi]

I would guess that's because they have been 'trained' by the other people that came to the mike. Everyone who asked a question, leaned forward right when they were ready to leave the mike. Once the leaning forward came to an end, the audience turns their heads in sync.

[@ohnree4110]

Haha I can't stop replaying it now xD

[@Leotique]

hahahahahahahaha

[@genevievelovell4204]

I think I’m I love with this professor.

[@Sebastian-hg3xc]

Absolutely brilliant speaker and amazingly interesting topics. Thanks for sharing.

[@One1Raptor]

You should read his book. Very informativ

[@lil----lil]

Thank you . Professor Walker.

[@easymac79]

That was really informative. The questions were great as well. Thank you for this talk.

[@afterthesmash]

The kinds of sleep masks one tends to find in drugstores or superstores are okay for sleeping in low light, but for actually sleeping during the day (when my N24 treatment fails and I need to reset) I always wear two. The elastics fatigue within a month or two, so a proper cinch mechanism to take up the slack is a godsend. Some of them have a stupid little plastic clip with pointy teeth that never manages to hold for long. Consign these to the trash bin. Knots work in a pinch, but can leave sleep divots in your head if you're not careful. I rate my sleep mask fairly high in my sleep-quality arsenal.

[@nabutovsky]

Excellent talk, thank you very much Matthew!

[@Eugwel]

Your pace and pause is perfect for my grossly sleep deprived cobbled cranium!

[@didinx8417]

Matthew Walker is a brilliant communicator and Why We Sleep a compelling book.....but I do not set out at night not to have a good nights sleep!

[@1018Stacey]

Your video was very informative and helpful to me!

[@abeautifulmessage]

WOW thanks for this talk - we have to save regular sleep for all human beings in this digital world.

[@MuhammadIshaque]

The contents are so engaging, I watch him straight for 54 minutes, very satisfying!

[@SpacesuitWill]

Fantastic talk! Thank you

[@chrismorenomccarthy8487]

I trust this man given that he has the thickest most amazing hair i have ever seen

[@BradiKal61]

Matthew Walker sleeps, and has great hair. How much sleep do you think Donald Trump gets?

[@user-ts6yy9qu7d]

謝謝分享，我是臺灣的躁鬱症者。非常感謝這段影片，獲益良多。書本雖然還沒翻完，瞭解睡眠剝奪的後果是很嚴重。在職場睡眠不足，得到憂鬱症。職業災害雖然有憂鬱症精神疾病的申請，但遲遲未出門申請。

[@fabian13333]

Great lecture. I read his book Why we sleep amazing book

[@MrJkeegan]

Im learning more from these videos and ted talks, that 12 years of public schooling could ever hope to teach me

[@ICVEGAS]

Fascinating research! Can't wait to read his book... 👍 💤

[@afterthesmash]

A good rule of thumb with caffeine is to regulate your intake until you can skip an entire day without feeling crappy. On a regular dose of 28 g of beans per day (16 oz of brewed coffee), if I skipped my morning coffee, I felt like absolute crap by noon. On a regular dose of 14 g of beans per day (8 oz of brewed coffee, all before noon) I can skip my morning coffee the next day and only feel mildly crappy by late afternoon. Still not good enough, so I'm cutting my caffeine down again. I've read research in the past that somewhere between 10-14 g per day is physiologically optimal, as a stimulant (beyond that level, the extra stimulation is cancelled out by a flattening of cognitive affect: more racing thoughts, ever shallower). Pro tip: I always brew exact doses, measured on a gram scale, one tiny cup at a time. An open pot would have me back to my historic abuse levels within two months. I can never say no to another sip of hot coffee already brewed. Especially back when I was self-medicating my sleep disorder with the wrong drug.

[@flamesimcox8397]

Fabulous presentation! Question: With sleep deprivation MRIs resembling those of all psychiatric illnesses, have any studies be done on the effects of inducing sleep in psychiatric patients for longer periods of time, say 10 hours or more per night while monitoring sleep cycles? Does induced sleep through the use of sleeping pills illicit the same effects as natural sleep? Can the effects of years of lost sleep be mitigated by adherence to an 8 hour sleep cycle? Thank you very much for making these lectures public!

[@OriginalIntentDoc]

This guy is a genius...

[@nayl3476]

Great speak ! Great book !

[@suhuurcarrey3033]

thanks for sharing with us this amazing informations and facts

[@motivationneeds2940]

Excellent Vocabulary, Marvelous Explanation!

[@babyirene3188]

Absolutely fascinating presentation. Fantastic job by Mr. Walker.

[@vhawk1951kl]

you mean that it is the stuff of fantasy?

[@Priyadarshan_Nag]

The initial 59 seconds of this video was enough to help me to fall asleep 😴 Expecting some gains now!!!

[@sahajagarwal7868]

One of the best speeches i have ever heard on sleep !!

[@Chiefab22]

Sahaj Agarwal read his book

[@sarahd9621]

Awesome, awesome talk!!

[@cvxcfv]

Thanks Joe Rogan!

[@qthirteen13]

Rixir oO yikes...I don’t remember him telling him testicles of men who sleep 5 hours are smaller....I really need to get more sleep....lol

[@sarah29880]

Agree !!

[@apolloapostolos5127]

S#!7 gets crazy on his episode with Dr Rhonda Patrick on her FoundMyFitness channel. Yeah, he even mentions genetic testing to determine chronotypes.

[@jondoyle44]

Straight from Joe R

[@jackiec871]

wow!!! still a great talk in 2020!

[@devilmyke]

This is great I'm gonna buy the book for definite.

[@mitchellbaxter6314]

This is a wonderfully informative video, and with his Liverpudlian accent, it's like having one the Beatles explain why you need to sleep.

[@Larry21924]

I'm completely enthralled by this. I recently read something similar, and it was absolutely mesmerizing. "Better Sleep Better Life" by William Brook

[@Scottae89]

Love listening to his talks, such great information!

[@Chiefab22]

scott wade you read his book?

[@JonnyLawrence]

Luckily for me I work from home and do just fine with the hours of sleep. I never set an alarm and wake up naturally everyday, it does make me productive, much more than when I was at school having to wake up too early. As soon as I got home from school I used to just fall asleep on the sofa.

[@ellesmith1539]

Me too! Then I’d still be wiped out & just needed more sleep

[@m34nkids]

Great video!

[@HomeostasisDiet]

Thanks for helping me understand sleep

[@ulysabel]

Wish I heard this when I was younger!

[@jewelweed6880]

I need to watch more stuff like this. I haven't had regular sleep habits for 30 years, started in elementary school and got worse. It's not so much that I can't sleep, if I just lay down with lights off (and no phone...no tv in my bedroom) and avoid reaching for sleep, I'm out. I learned to ignore the tired feeling, bull past it. Lately I'm trying to consciously recognize the tired feeling. I've experienced ADHD-like symptoms and light depression for years and it's getting worse. I think getting enough sleep regularly will help. It will help my memory, focus, self-control, the foggy brain, drop the unnecessary late night snacking and I will feel more energetic and possibly happier. Problem is losing track of time and getting myself to just STOP. The chronic late nights and insufficient sleep time (and the effects of such) have become a defining part of my characteristics, but they haven't benefited me. Did I mention I haven't been able to get to work at the time I'm scheduled? It's in the morning, you see. I'm lucky they ignore it and I haven't been fired. If I could get my butt in bed so I can get enough sleep AND get it out in the morning, just that could open so many opportunities. If I'm hungry, I eat. If I'm thirsty, I drink. If I gotta pee, I visit the bathroom. If I'm tired...LOL I ignore it and keeping cleaning or reading or browsing or playing. 🤦‍♀️😭

[@imho2278]

Set your alarm for 10.30 pm and when it goes off, go to bed. Read if you want, get a hot milky snack, but give your body the chance to get warm and relaxed.

[@venkataponnaganti]

The talk did not say anything about dreams and dreaming as such! But the talk is excellent.

[@bigpickles]

Probably one of the best talks I've seen in my life. Thank you so much. I and many of us are forever indebted to your work.

[@Chiefab22]

Nick M did you read his book?

[@bigpickles]

Andy CowBoy no not yet. Waiting for it to arrive.

[@Chiefab22]

Nick M I just bought his Book on audible.com

[@bigpickles]

Andy CowBoy I prefer paperback/hardback. I'm old school like that.

[@Chiefab22]

Nick M I can lesson in my earbuds at work!

[@multimediasecurityconsulti4681]

Thanks ,eye opening ☺

[@fabiovincent6038]

an interesting explanation of sleep importance. has suffered the same symptoms of sleep deprivation. hopefully could improve sleep and life quality later on

[@jerkville5780]

I'm going to sleep 12 hours a day so I can grow balls the size of grapefruits!

[@enkibumbu]

Hopefully, the zucchini also benefits.

[@vijaysabnis7291]

You may not be able to walk.

[@colleensunnex3929]

😆😆😆😆😆

[@darrell20741]

This video is going to put me to sleep. That is a good thing, because I need more of it!

[@rohitbhardwaj8098]

Simply brilliant!! I had no idea how important 7 hrs of sleep is. From today onwards I will get a good night sleep in reality.

[@druiz607]

8, bro. Go for 8!

[@agnesd6831]

some people like me wake up automatically 2 hours after falling asleep and then have a hard time to fall back asleep until 3 hours later. That's when I get a deep sleep for an hour. I don't smoke, no tv in my room, go to bed at same time, take some sleeping natural supplements like valeriana and chamomille and glycyne and melatonine but still no matter what I wake up at 2.30 or 3 am. And then my brain cannot stop thinking for another 3 hours.

[@khunpingpong]

if he speed up a bit, 35 mins would be nice. He is good to teach non English speakers. Love him ^^

[@KrisMoe]

I'm onboard! Great information.

[@marylougold8333]

Excellent talk on sleep. Excellent information

[@Chiefab22]

Mary Lou Gold you read his book?

[@tommytwomommy]

Ah a new angle on the man that cures my insomnia

[@gaialuciddream7280]

This guy is awesome

[@RajeshJustaguy]

I went to a conference years back to cover the photography. It was a yearly event for doctors and their research papers.. and one of them did a study on Sleep... and how it could be the cause of many illnesses.. or the chance of illness. Also... the sleep duration is also important.. too little or too much is not good

[@roughpatches]

I love this guy

[@CalebBlock]

Glad to learn about mr walker from Joe Rogan

[@gasmisaid2656]

thank you very much it's great

[@giulianamurillo3582]

agradezco al cielo de estar aprendiendo ingles mediante estos videos.i wanna thank god for being learning english by way of these kind of videos...

[@chahahc]

21:23 So this is why comedy shows seem so much funnier late at night. I remember wheezing out of breath watching late night adult swim shows like ATHF and Harvey Birdman, and then pondering the next day on why the jokes seemed so much more funny the night before.

[@romario_de_souza_faria]

Probably because you already heard the jokes before. Jokes tend to become less funny the more you hear them.

[@stefanhauser2804]

I found cheers and Seinfeld very funny, they were on TV at midnight on german TV. when i watch them now i think they are realy not funny, crazy