Sleep is your superpower, tedtalk Matt Walker

So we took a group of individuals and we assigned them to one of two experimental groups: a sleep group and a sleep deprivation group.

So you just have to prioritize.

In fact, the link between a lack of sleep and cancer is now so strong that the World Health Organization has classified any form of nighttime shift work as a probable carcinogen, because of a disruption of your sleep-wake rhythms.

05:48 And let me just tell you about one area that we've moved this work out into, clinically, which is the context of aging and dementia.

That's going to be optimal for the sleep of most people.

09:48 But as a deeper dive, I want to focus on this: sleep loss and your immune system.

But there's a potential silver lining here.

So she's never developed a safety net, and that's why when you undersleep, things just sort of implode so quickly, both within the brain and the body.

It's called direct current brain stimulation.

You insert a small amount of voltage into the brain, so small you typically don't feel it, but it has a measurable impact.

And it suggests that the disruption of deep sleep is an underappreciated factor that is contributing to cognitive decline or memory decline in aging, and most recently we've discovered, in Alzheimer's disease as well.

In fact, what they're doing here is destroying a cancerous tumor mass.

And it suggests that the disruption of deep sleep is an underappreciated factor that is contributing to cognitive decline or memory decline in aging, and most recently we've discovered, in Alzheimer's disease as well.

Sleep loss will leak down into every nook and cranny of your physiology, even tampering with the very DNA nucleic alphabet that spells out your daily health narrative.

Currently, that list includes cancer of the bowel, cancer of the prostate and cancer of the breast.

There is simply no aspect of your wellness that can retreat at the sign of sleep deprivation and get away unscathed.

And in doing so, we can be reunited with the most powerful elixir of life, the Swiss Army knife of health, as it were.

12:16 And if increasing your risk for the development of cancer or even Alzheimer's disease were not sufficiently disquieting, we have since discovered that a lack of sleep will even erode the very fabric of biological life itself, your DNA genetic code.

The question now is whether we can translate this same affordable, potentially portable piece of technology into older adults and those with dementia.

In fact, to put that in context, it would be the difference in a child acing an exam versus failing it miserably -- 40 percent.

Unlike many of the other factors that we know are associated with aging, for example changes in the physical structure of the brain, that's fiendishly difficult to treat.

16:58 And with that soapbox rant over, I will simply say, good night, good luck, and above all ...

So what you wish for is a virile set of these immune assassins at all times, and tragically, that's what you don't have if you're not sleeping enough.

And by placing electrodes all over the head, what we've discovered is that there are big, powerful brainwaves that happen during the very deepest stages of sleep that have riding on top of them these spectacular bursts of electrical activity that we call sleep spindles.

That's a concerning state of immune deficiency, and you can perhaps understand why we're now finding significant links between short sleep duration and your risk for the development of numerous forms of cancer.

Sleep loss will leak down into every nook and cranny of your physiology, even tampering with the very DNA nucleic alphabet that spells out your daily health narrative.

Now if you apply this stimulation during sleep in young, healthy adults, as if you're sort of singing in time with those deep-sleep brainwaves, not only can you amplify the size of those deep-sleep brainwaves, but in doing so, we can almost double the amount of memory benefit that you get from sleep.

Can we restore back some healthy quality of deep sleep, and in doing so, can we salvage aspects of their learning and memory function?

In fact, to put that in context, it would be the difference in a child acing an exam versus failing it miserably -- 40 percent.

Well, I'm being quite serious now -- it is mortally unwise advice.

And that's what you're looking at here on the vertical axis.

So a lack of sleep will age a man by a decade in terms of that critical aspect of wellness.

12:16 And if increasing your risk for the development of cancer or even Alzheimer's disease were not sufficiently disquieting, we have since discovered that a lack of sleep will even erode the very fabric of biological life itself, your DNA genetic code.

16:32 I believe it is now time for us to reclaim our right to a full night of sleep, and without embarrassment or that unfortunate stigma of laziness.

And it suggests that the disruption of deep sleep is an underappreciated factor that is contributing to cognitive decline or memory decline in aging, and most recently we've discovered, in Alzheimer's disease as well.

In contrast, those genes that were actually upregulated or increased by way of a lack of sleep, were genes associated with the promotion of tumors, genes associated with long-term chronic inflammation within the body, and genes associated with stress, and, as a consequence, cardiovascular disease.

And it's the combined quality of these deep-sleep brainwaves that acts like a file-transfer mechanism at night, shifting memories from a short-term vulnerable reservoir to a more permanent long-term storage site within the brain, and therefore protecting them, making them safe.

Well, I think it may be this: sleep, unfortunately, is not an optional lifestyle luxury.

16:32 I believe it is now time for us to reclaim our right to a full night of sleep, and without embarrassment or that unfortunate stigma of laziness.

But recently, we discovered that you also need sleep before learning to actually prepare your brain, almost like a dry sponge ready to initially soak up new information.

Sleep loss will leak down into every nook and cranny of your physiology, even tampering with the very DNA nucleic alphabet that spells out your daily health narrative.

11:49 So you may have heard of that old maxim that you can sleep when you're dead.

I should also note the reason that it's so catastrophic and that our health deteriorates so quickly, first, it's because human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent reason.

First, a sizable and significant 711 genes were distorted in their activity, caused by a lack of sleep.

And by placing electrodes all over the head, what we've discovered is that there are big, powerful brainwaves that happen during the very deepest stages of sleep that have riding on top of them these spectacular bursts of electrical activity that we call sleep spindles.

The question now is whether we can translate this same affordable, potentially portable piece of technology into older adults and those with dementia.

In contrast, those genes that were actually upregulated or increased by way of a lack of sleep, were genes associated with the promotion of tumors, genes associated with long-term chronic inflammation within the body, and genes associated with stress, and, as a consequence, cardiovascular disease.

Your body needs to drop its core temperature by about two to three degrees Fahrenheit to initiate sleep and then to stay asleep, and it's the reason you will always find it easier to fall asleep in a room that's too cold than too hot.

So a lack of sleep will age a man by a decade in terms of that critical aspect of wellness.

And it's the combined quality of these deep-sleep brainwaves that acts like a file-transfer mechanism at night, shifting memories from a short-term vulnerable reservoir to a more permanent long-term storage site within the brain, and therefore protecting them, making them safe.

And there's a structure that sits on the left and the right side of your brain, called the hippocampus.

That's a concerning state of immune deficiency, and you can perhaps understand why we're now finding significant links between short sleep duration and your risk for the development of numerous forms of cancer.

Well, we can ask a very different question: What is it about the physiological quality of your sleep when you do get it that restores and enhances your memory and learning ability each and every day?

So it's almost as though sleep deprivation had shut down your memory inbox, and any new incoming files -- they were just being bounced.

12:16 And if increasing your risk for the development of cancer or even Alzheimer's disease were not sufficiently disquieting, we have since discovered that a lack of sleep will even erode the very fabric of biological life itself, your DNA genetic code.

What do we do when we're, like, tossing and turning in bed late at night or doing shift work or whatever else?

Unfortunately, they are blunt instruments that do not produce naturalistic sleep.

Now the sleep group, they're going to get a full eight hours of slumber, but the deprivation group, we're going to keep them awake in the laboratory, under full supervision.

And when you put those two groups head to head, what you find is a quite significant, 40-percent deficit in the ability of the brain to make new memories without sleep.

So what you wish for is a virile set of these immune assassins at all times, and tragically, that's what you don't have if you're not sleeping enough.

Your body needs to drop its core temperature by about two to three degrees Fahrenheit to initiate sleep and then to stay asleep, and it's the reason you will always find it easier to fall asleep in a room that's too cold than too hot.

09:48 But as a deeper dive, I want to focus on this: sleep loss and your immune system.

I should also note the reason that it's so catastrophic and that our health deteriorates so quickly, first, it's because human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent reason.

Regularity is king, and it will anchor your sleep and improve the quantity and the quality of that sleep.

And by placing electrodes all over the head, what we've discovered is that there are big, powerful brainwaves that happen during the very deepest stages of sleep that have riding on top of them these spectacular bursts of electrical activity that we call sleep spindles.