1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,120 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb, and I'm Julie Douglas. 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: Julia you a fan of the nap M. I love 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:20,800 Speaker 1: the idea of a nap, but I never really get 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: to engage. Okay, I love a nap. I do not 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: take one every day, but when I do take one, 8 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: it is, uh, it's phenomenal. And I and I asked myself, 9 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: why do I not do this all the time? Why 10 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: do I Why don't I grab a quick twenty minute 11 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: nap every day? The time that I really want a 12 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: nap is on a plane, because I have the time 13 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: to do it makes total sense. But I'm just incapable 14 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: of doing that. And I know some of it's because 15 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 1: the vestibular system is keeping tapped on what's going on. 16 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: You know, You've got all sorts of sensory information that 17 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: the brain has to deal with, and so it's a 18 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: little bit occupied or too occupied in order for you 19 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: to you know, fall into some sort of slumber. And 20 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: yet people do it all around me. Yeah, I appreciate 21 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 1: a good long airplane nap. I also like a good 22 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: car nap. I haven't taken one in a while, but 23 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: when I was working in newspapers, I remember coming sneaking 24 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: back out, not sneaking, I would take a break outside 25 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: and I would think, if people can take smoke smoke 26 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: smoke breaks, I can take a nice nap break. So 27 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,040 Speaker 1: I just go into the car, you leaning the chair back, 28 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: and you just doze off for a good twenty minutes. 29 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: And you know, this is not a weird concept. We 30 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: know the concept of the siesta, right yeah, yeah, this 31 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: is Latin for hora sex, or rather it comes from 32 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: Latin and hotta sexta means the sixth hour, because traditionally 33 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: the day would start at six am and six hours 34 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: later it would be noon. Perfect time for a siesta, 35 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: you know. And I mean because at heart, what is 36 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: a nap but sleep, just a little extra sleep, And 37 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: sleep is good, even though we tend to have this 38 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: sort of hostile relationship with with it, especially here in 39 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: the States, right, Like, sleep is that period of time 40 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: when you can't get anything done. Why would I have 41 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: more sleep during the day. That's time I could be 42 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: doing things. Yeah, I think of the T shirt all sleep. 43 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: When I die, I've probably seen that around sleep and 44 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: I'm dead. There's a war and Zevon song about that. 45 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: But sleep, just to refresh, does a number of great 46 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: essential things for us, and we've podcasted about this before. 47 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: I'll be sure to include some links to our our 48 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: whole suite of sleep related content on the landing page 49 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:29,959 Speaker 1: for this episode. But sleep gives the body a chance 50 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 1: to repair muscles and other tissue, replaces aging or dead cells. 51 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: It gives the brain a chance to organize in an 52 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: archive memories. And sleep lowers our energy consumption, allows us 53 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: to to recharge the body, and the brain keeps us 54 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: around to eat all the time. It gets to just 55 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: sort of shut things down for a little bit. And 56 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: you know, all life forms have these built in chemical 57 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: clocks that are gauging the amount of light out there 58 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: and how to respond to it, right, and the human 59 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,919 Speaker 1: penny all gland well, it regulates the rhythm that beats 60 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: south this biological clock for a secreting melotona according to 61 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: light stimulus. And you can kind of think of it 62 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: as this control tower queuing us as to when we 63 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: should fall into a slumber. And when we do fall 64 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: into a slumber, there are four key stages okay, and 65 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: this is going to be important later on in the episode. Uh. 66 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: Stage one five to ten minutes. First five to ten 67 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: minutes if your sleep this is a light sleep. This 68 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: is basically waking to sleeping transition period. The second stage 69 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: sees your heart and your body your heart rate and 70 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: your body temperatures drop because that kind of readies yourself 71 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: for deep sleep, right. Yeah. Stage two twenty minutes and 72 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: this is when your brain is producing a burst of 73 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: rapid rhythmic brain wave activity and it was known as 74 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: sleep spindles, and these play an important role in memory consolidation, 75 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: which will discuss in a bit. Then you have stage three. 76 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: This is the delta sleep or slow wave sleep. Uh. 77 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: This is a deep air of sleep where you have 78 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: slow brain waves known as the known as delta waves 79 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: that are beginning to emerge. Yeah. This is the time 80 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: where your body repairs and regrows tissues, builds bones and muscles, 81 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: and strengthens the immune system. So this specifically, your body 82 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: is really doing some work in this stage, and so 83 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: it makes sense that if you are awoken in this 84 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: stage that you feel exceedingly groggy in a fog. And 85 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: then finally they're stage four and this is ninety minutes 86 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: after falling asleep. Generally, this is a rim sleep. This 87 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: is the domain of dreams. Always think about the first 88 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 1: three stages. It's just being these portals into the inner 89 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,599 Speaker 1: chamber of dreamland, right, because that's sort of the ultimate goal, 90 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,799 Speaker 1: at least in my mind, because this is where stuff 91 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: really happens and memory consolidation becomes important here. Yeah, I 92 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:51,840 Speaker 1: mean the channel Ralph Wick and this is where you're 93 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 1: a viking, right. Uh. Now. The progression of these stages 94 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: is interesting because you would think it would just be 95 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: one two three four, one two three four or what 96 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: have you. But the progression goes stage one, then stage two, 97 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: and then you get to stage three, then back to 98 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 1: stage two, then to stage four, then back to stage two, 99 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: and then it continues. Yeah, and the more you revisit 100 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: the rem stage, the longer lengths of time. So it 101 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: could be the ten minutes that you're in RIM the 102 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,279 Speaker 1: first time, and then throughout the evening or the night, 103 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,599 Speaker 1: um it could extend out toward an hour. Cool. So 104 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: that's the basic flow of a given night sleep. So 105 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: the important to keep that in mind when we start 106 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: talking about naps. The little slices of additional sleep that 107 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: we carve out for ourselves during the day. And I 108 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,800 Speaker 1: do want to drive home that in this podcast we're 109 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:39,839 Speaker 1: gonna be dealing with adult napping without diving into the 110 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: much research topic of infant and toddler napping, which is 111 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: a domain alto a ball on its own, although I 112 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: will say the parallel here is that a good nap 113 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: can solve almost any sort of crisis in either an 114 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: adult or child. It's true. All right, let's get to 115 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: know the nap um focusing on the length and the 116 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 1: sleep stages involved here. First of all, you have your 117 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: twenty minute power nap. This is the this is this 118 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: is a good one to have in your arsenal uh. 119 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: It yields mostly stage to sleep. So you're just dipping 120 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: your toes into the waters of slumber here. But still, 121 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: according to Jennifer Ackerman, author of Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, 122 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: Dream a day in the life of your body, that's 123 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: still enough to enhance alertness and concentration, to elevate mood 124 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: and sharpen your motor skills. Plus, you know, especially in 125 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: this modern day where we were so focused on clock time, 126 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: and we think about those those hour and half hour 127 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: blocks that we've carved up our time into it's easier 128 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: to get on board with a twenty minute nap because like, 129 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: that's not even half an hour, that's that's just a 130 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: third of an hour. So if I just allow myself 131 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: that that I'm not really cutting into the rest of 132 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: my day. Yeah, and if you're trying to be super 133 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: efficient about that twenty minutes, you want to get everything 134 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 1: you can out of it, well, you may want to 135 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 1: consider pairing it with caffeine, which I know sounds really counterintuitive, 136 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: but it's actually possible to hack your nap a bit 137 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: with caffeine. Um, so let's let's talk about that. You see, 138 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: your body produces a molecule called adenazine, and this adentazine 139 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: will slow down nerve cell activity, and when it builds 140 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: up a bit in your brain, that's when you really 141 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: begin to feel a bit um like you're kind of 142 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: slogging through the day. So caffeine games adentazine by doing this, 143 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: it binds to the receptors that adentazine would normally bind too. 144 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:35,239 Speaker 1: So if you introduce caffeine, it will kind of sidle 145 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: up to that receptor before the adenazine does bind to 146 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: and say, ha, alert awake, um, so in a sense, 147 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: they're competing for those receptors. So here's we're sleep or 148 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: a nap comes into it. While you're napping, the adentazine 149 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: is being broken down by your brain and ferried away, 150 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: which means all those receptors are free. And so if 151 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: you're taking a twenty minute nap, that actually happens to 152 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: correspond with the peak effects of caffeine. So what that 153 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: means is that you know your brain has clear away 154 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: all they to denizine and now at the end of 155 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: those twenty minutes, the peak effects of caffeine are taking 156 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: effect and all binding to those free receptors. You wake 157 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: up feeling spectacular, like you've had eight hours of NonStop sleep. Nice. Yeah, 158 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 1: a little sleep hap hacking there. So that's that's that's 159 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: the idea behind it. Now a lot of you are 160 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: probably already aware of like the ideal twenty minute nap, 161 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: and maybe many of you try the coffee trick as well. 162 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: But obviously sometimes you hit that twenty minute mark, your 163 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: your alarm goes off and you just feel like maybe 164 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: maybe you just need a little more right, five more minutes, 165 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: ten more minutes, fifteen more minutes, right, but you You 166 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:53,079 Speaker 1: need to be careful here because if you choose to 167 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: go too much longer, if you go past the forty 168 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: five minute mark, uh, then you risk getting beyond on 169 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 1: sleep phases one and two and into three. So if 170 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:04,440 Speaker 1: you can and if you go longer you get into 171 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 1: phase three, you can that slow wave or delta wave sleep. 172 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: This is that area again, we're waking out of this. 173 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: You're gonna get groggy, and you're gonna have that sleep inertia. 174 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 1: You're gonna be disoriented, and that can last very good 175 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: half hour. So as it's tantalizing and and uh and 176 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:23,679 Speaker 1: appealing as the idea of just an a solid hour 177 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:27,079 Speaker 1: nap might seem, especially during the you know again thinking 178 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:28,959 Speaker 1: of clock time, thinking of all right, we'll just take 179 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: one a whole hour and just recharge. If you do that, 180 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,200 Speaker 1: then you're risk taking an additional half hour just to 181 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: recover from your nap, right, because it never feels good 182 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: to wake up from a nap and try to remember 183 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: what your name is and where you are, and it's 184 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: just a terrible sort of mucking through feelings. So if 185 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: you go past that forty five minutes, you might as 186 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: well go to nine d minutes because that means that 187 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: you now have covered an entire cycle of sleep that 188 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: includes the coveted into the realm. Realm which, as we 189 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: know in in the other podcasts that we have, our 190 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:12,320 Speaker 1: episodes that we've covered can aid creativity and emotional and 191 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: procedural memory, such as learning how to ride a bike, 192 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: for instance. So this is really helpful this ninety minute. 193 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: Now if you have learned a new task and you 194 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: want to try to consolidate that memory faster and make 195 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: it stickier, take that ninety minutes the whole. Let's the whole. Well, 196 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: maybe I should sleep on it thing right, Yeah, And 197 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: this allows you to essentially sleep on it in small form. 198 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: I wanted to point this little statistic out. Unlike of 199 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: all the million species, humans sleep just once a day, 200 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: which is bunk when you consider that the human brain 201 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: uses more energy energy than any other organ in the body. 202 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: I'm talking about, Um, you know those maps showing the 203 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: world's energy consumption. The brain is kind of like the 204 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:02,440 Speaker 1: United States, you know, along with China. It really is 205 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:04,839 Speaker 1: taking up a lot of energy. So what can a 206 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: nap do for you? Well, it can help reverse any 207 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: nighttime sleep deficits, boost our brains including improvements to creative 208 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: problem solving, verbal memory, perceptual learning, object learning, and statistical learning. UM. 209 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: It's generally good for about everything, including managing weight. So, 210 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: for instance, UM, think about lepton and grellin. These are 211 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: two hormones that help to maintain your appetite. UM. They 212 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: both suppress it and they ramp it up during the 213 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: day and night. And if you don't get enough shut I, 214 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 1: you'll have too much leptum in the system slowing down 215 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: your metabolism and too much grellan in the system telling 216 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: you that you're hungry. And that's why if you've ever 217 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: pulled an all night or the next day, you just 218 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: have the insatiable munchies because these hormones are completely off, 219 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,680 Speaker 1: and so a nap can actually help to to balance 220 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 1: out those hormones again. And then in terms of alertness, 221 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: we can look at this study from NASA. It's titled 222 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: Alertness Management Strategic Naps in Operational Settings since from and 223 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 1: they looked at the beneficial effects of napping on seven 224 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: dred and forty seven pilots, and each participant was allowed 225 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: to nap for forty minutes during the day, sleeping on 226 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 1: average about twenty five point eight minutes, which is kind 227 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,319 Speaker 1: of the sweet zone of uh napping as we've discussed, 228 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: and the nappers quote demonstrated vigilance performance improvements from sixteen 229 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: percent in media and reaction time to thirty and lapses 230 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: compared to the no rest group. So that would lead 231 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: us to this idea of performance and the workplace in 232 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:47,440 Speaker 1: knowing that a nap can actually restore our attention, it 233 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: can increase the quality of our work. Um can help 234 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: our attention spans, reduce our mistakes, and it can also 235 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: help us to learn while we're on the job. And 236 00:12:55,720 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: yet yet not all of us have the kind of 237 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: corporate culture that has installed sleep pods or sleep tents. Yeah, 238 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,959 Speaker 1: we were talking about this earlier before the podcast. There 239 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: was a time and how stuff works where it was 240 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:13,839 Speaker 1: in the rule book that if you if you were 241 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: asleep in the office, you could be fired like I 242 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: assume on the spot and just kicked out like half 243 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: awake if you were asleep at your desk, which made 244 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: me think of a Llana from broad City, the Comedy 245 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: Central series in which she has trained herself to sleep 246 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: uh sitting in her chair at work with her eyes open. Ah. Yeah, 247 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: it's beautiful. It's a it's a brilliant it's a brilliant 248 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: strategy and one that I've seen in real life. When 249 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: I was in high school. Uh, there was there was 250 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: a guy in my class named Tojo and he was 251 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: he was in the football team, big guy, but not 252 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: as interested in his studies. And he could fall asleep 253 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 1: with his eyes open. He had perfected it for the 254 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:57,439 Speaker 1: classroom use where he just sat there, his eyes are 255 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: open and he's dead asleep and maybe maybe he's absorbing 256 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: some of this right, some of the material that he's 257 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: listening to. Yeah, I judged him too harshly. Um, because 258 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: even a short sleep, last thing to sixty minutes, uh, 259 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: in that range can produce a fivefold improvement in information 260 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: retrieval from memory. Now, this these findings come from a 261 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: two thousand, fifteen neuropsychology study from Germany Starland University by 262 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: Sarah Studa, Axel mechel Linger and Emma Bridger. Now specifically, 263 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: they were interested in the consolidation of memories during stage 264 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: to sleep. Uh. This is when information is tagged for 265 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: easier recall. You can think of you know, the sleep 266 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: librarians going through the archives and tagging things individually and 267 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: putting things in order to where they'll be of more 268 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: use to the waking mind. And they focused on the 269 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: hippocampus here this is where the memories are consolidated, and 270 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: they looked for those tell tale sleep spindles UH that 271 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier that are in stage to sleep while 272 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: they were analyzed brain activities of test subjects via an 273 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: electro en cephalogram or e g. The more sleep spindles, 274 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: the stronger the memory. So this particular study unraveled like this. 275 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: Step one, test subjects were required to learn ninety single 276 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: words and a hundred and twenty word pairs. And these 277 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: word pairs were just meaningless combinations of words, so they 278 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: weren't phrases or anything. It's the kind of thing you'd 279 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 1: have to really turn on your brain to absorb. The 280 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: next step, one group was allowed to nap after being 281 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: presented with this information around ninety minutes, while the other 282 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: watched some DVDs, in other words, to stay away. Can 283 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: not get a chance to nap and to consolidate those memories. Now, 284 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: the test subjects then took tests that targeted both hippocampus 285 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: dependent associated memories or a M and hippocampus independent item 286 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: memories or i AM. Their findings were that i AM 287 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: performance decreased for both groups, but a in performance that 288 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: type of memory consolidations occurring during sleep decrease for the 289 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: control group the ones watching the DVDs, but remained constant 290 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: for the knap group. So this was consistent with their 291 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: predictions uh that there would be this selective impact of 292 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: napping on hippocampus dependent recognition. All right, when it comes 293 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: to memory boosting and napping, dreams certainly play a big part, 294 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: and Robert stick Gold of Harvard Med School conducted a 295 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: dream and memory experiment published the results in the two 296 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: thoutent online edition of Current Biology. And what they did is, 297 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: I took ninety nine college students who spent an hour 298 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: practicing of virtual maze task on a computer with a 299 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: goal of remembering the placement of a certain tree. Now, 300 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: then they had students who were assigned to either take 301 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,800 Speaker 1: a nap or just kind of hang out doing something 302 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 1: really nice and quiet, not necessarily meditative, but something that 303 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: didn't um take up too much of their brain serves 304 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: and allow them to kind of just hang out and 305 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: um restore their energy. So those who actively dreamed about 306 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,520 Speaker 1: the experimental task we're talking about. Four people out of 307 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: fifty nappers found the tree much faster than they had 308 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,360 Speaker 1: in the initial trials, and they described seeing people at 309 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: particular locations in the maze or hearing music that had 310 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: played in the lab during testing. And this reminds me 311 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: of a study that we've talked about before that essentially 312 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: concluded that students who were studying in multiple places did 313 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: better on their tests because they were creating more associations 314 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 1: that their brain could later recall in a testing situation. Right, 315 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: So they were kind of creating the different data points. 316 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,199 Speaker 1: And what this is bearing out, and again this is 317 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: only four of the fifty nappers that actually dreamed, but 318 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 1: it's bearing out that those data points are being revisited 319 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 1: in these scenarios. So, in other words, it's not that 320 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: the dreams lead to better memory, but rather that they're 321 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,880 Speaker 1: as signed that other unconscious parts of the brain are 322 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 1: are really working hard to remember how to get through 323 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: that virtual maze in those points of recall. Cool. Now, 324 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier that taking a nap can actually reverse 325 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: the effects of a bad night's sleep or you know, 326 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: a night of staying up and cramming for a test 327 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: or what have you. Uh. And so there's actually a 328 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: study that proves this out rather nicely. According to a 329 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,879 Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal 330 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: of Clinical Indochronology and Metabolism, a short napp thirty minute 331 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:43,359 Speaker 1: range can help relieve stress and bolster the immune system 332 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: after a night of sparse sleep, such as only scoring 333 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: two hours UM. And this is key news since, according 334 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: to the National Health Interview Survey, nearly three anten adults 335 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,160 Speaker 1: report they sleep in average of six hours or less 336 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: than nights. So a lot of us are rolling through 337 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: our daily lives with all always having to deal with 338 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 1: a little bit of a sleep deficit. Right. So, this 339 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: particular study revolve revolved around eleven healthy man between the 340 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,159 Speaker 1: ages of five and thirty two. During one session, they 341 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: were limited to two hours of sleep for a single night, 342 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: and in another subjects were able to take two thirty 343 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,400 Speaker 1: minute naps the day after uh their sleep was restricted 344 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:23,640 Speaker 1: to two hours. Then the scientists analyze the participants urine 345 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,399 Speaker 1: and saliva to determine how restricted sleep and napping had 346 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,440 Speaker 1: altered their hormone levels. So this is where it gets 347 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: really interesting. They found that one night of limited sleep 348 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,959 Speaker 1: caused a two point fivefold increase in the level of 349 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: nah rep andrin, a hormone and neurotransmitter involved in the 350 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 1: body's fight or flight response to stress. So, in other words, 351 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: you have a bad night's sleep, then the next day 352 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: you're more likely to want to you know, fight or 353 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 1: run from anything that that comes at you. You have 354 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: this more of a you know, um uh antagonistic relationship 355 00:19:56,320 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 1: with your environment. Um. However, researchers found no change in 356 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:04,159 Speaker 1: non rep in efferent levels when the men had napped 357 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,680 Speaker 1: following a night of limited sleep. So again, just just 358 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: just some short napping thrown in there can can remove 359 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: this uh, this battle the tiger or run from the 360 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:18,120 Speaker 1: tiger approach to something as simple as a day of 361 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,560 Speaker 1: taking tests on campus or a day of work in 362 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: the office. So that's interesting that that chemical clock that 363 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: we talked about can get off so very easily and 364 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: that cascading effect can be created, But it sounds like 365 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,679 Speaker 1: it can invert that relationship. Indeed, so another thing that 366 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: can be affected by sleep or napping is your blood pressure. 367 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,360 Speaker 1: So think about your old ticker. They're working really hard 368 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: all day, pumping blood to and fro, and when your 369 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: head hits the pillow, your heart gets arrest too, because 370 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: there's less demand to pump blood throughout your body. But 371 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 1: if you have this sort of chronic loss of sleep 372 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: or sleep deficit, it means that your heart muscles can 373 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: become fatigued and this can lead to an increase in 374 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:06,200 Speaker 1: blood pressure or possible thickening of the heart muscle. So 375 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: how does the nap figure in here. Researchers at Liverpool 376 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: John Moore's University in the UK tested nine healthy volunteers, 377 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:20,399 Speaker 1: eight men one woman who did not routinely take afternoon naps. 378 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: They wore equipment that checked blood pressure, heart rate, and 379 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: forearm cutaneous vascular conductance, which is just determining the dilation 380 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 1: of blood vessels, and they found a significant drop in 381 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,119 Speaker 1: blood pressure during the sleep trial. Okay, they also had 382 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: a resting and standing trial. So what's more here is 383 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: that this drop in blood pressure occurred mostly after the 384 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:50,680 Speaker 1: lights out moment, just before the volunteers fell asleep. And 385 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: this is a kind of fascinating insight into mind body 386 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,920 Speaker 1: that the researchers stumbled upon because it's just this kind 387 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: of mirror anticipation of an afternoon nap UM in which 388 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: the body then followed suit and decreased blood pressure. So 389 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:10,199 Speaker 1: what I'm saying here is that they didn't even have 390 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,680 Speaker 1: to complete the nap, just just by virtue of laying 391 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: down and starting to float into that first stage, they 392 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 1: could feel the effects of a nap on their blood pressure. 393 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: Just wanting the nap, just giving into the nap was enough. Yeah. 394 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: I mean, you have to be in the right context, 395 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: right of the right situation. Again, you can't be sitting 396 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: up and thinking, Wow, I would love a nap right now, 397 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden you're blood pressure is decreased. Um. 398 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: But what it's saying is that the body knows that 399 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,919 Speaker 1: it's preparing itself for sleep, and it's it's beginning to 400 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: take the body down to the studs there and so again, 401 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: you don't even have to enter into this the full phases. 402 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,840 Speaker 1: All right, So at this point we might be wondering, 403 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: what is there any downside? All of this sound just fantastic, right, 404 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: I Mean, we're boosting our memory, we're restoring our energy 405 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: where we're improving our mood, we're helping our bodies stay alive. 406 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,880 Speaker 1: Like what possible downside could there be to taking a nap. Well, 407 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: there does seem to be some degree of association between 408 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,880 Speaker 1: between naps and increased diabetes risk. Now this is kind 409 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: of There are two studies, the two thousand ten study 410 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: in two thousand and thirteen study. Both are publishing the 411 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 1: journal Sleep, and these studies looked at Chinese participants who 412 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: reported taking naps four to six times a week, and 413 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: in the first study, they found that the individuals were 414 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 1: fifty more likely to have diabetes than those who napped 415 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,119 Speaker 1: less frequently. Now, both of these studies took place in China, 416 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 1: where where the where the culture is generally more on 417 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 1: board with a good nap for anybody and everybody, regardless 418 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,879 Speaker 1: of age or or status h then you would find 419 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 1: in in many Western cultures. Um. Now, the two thousand 420 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 1: thirteen study followed up that the and more or less 421 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,920 Speaker 1: confirmed this correlation, but also suggested that while longer nap 422 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: durations were associated with an increased risk for high blood 423 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: sugar and diabetes, these people who took short naps of 424 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,119 Speaker 1: say less than thirty minutes, tended to have lower blood 425 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:09,119 Speaker 1: sugar levels compared to non nappers. However, this wasn't like 426 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: a really statistically significant link. What it all means though, 427 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: is that these findings can't really prove out into cause 428 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: and effect. It's still a matter of correlation. Uh, but 429 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: there is this possibility that napping and diabetes are connected. Now, 430 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:27,920 Speaker 1: remember diabetes as a condition in which the individual experiences 431 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 1: high blood sugar because the body doesn't produce enough insulin 432 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,439 Speaker 1: to remove excess gloof cose from the blood, or because 433 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: the cells have become resistant to insulin. So there's this 434 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: possibility here, and it's again this needs to be proven 435 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 1: out in in additional studies. Uh, but it's possible that 436 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 1: too much or too little sleep upsets the balance. Again, 437 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,239 Speaker 1: think of that. Uh, the biological clock that we've been 438 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 1: talking about here interferes with our internal clockwork of insulin release, 439 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 1: upsetting the balance and leading to the the to the 440 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:04,080 Speaker 1: to the lack of balance found in the diabetic Okay, 441 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:09,120 Speaker 1: that kind of chemical cascade. Yeah, indeed, a chemical cascade effect. Now, 442 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: another study here about napping shows that it may be 443 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:17,800 Speaker 1: more efficient in the young. Um. This is according to 444 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: a study published in the two thousand and nine December 445 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:25,680 Speaker 1: issue of the journal Sleep. Patricia Saga Spay studied twenty 446 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,439 Speaker 1: four people twelve young people between the ages of twenty 447 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 1: and twenty five and twelve middle aged people between the 448 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 1: ages of forty and fifty now. Participants first drove a 449 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,679 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty five highway miles in the daylight between 450 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,959 Speaker 1: six and seven thirty at night okay, which she might 451 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: feel a little bit fatigued at that time right then, 452 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,639 Speaker 1: and a test of the effects of coffee and napping 453 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: on nighttime driving. Participants drove another hundred and twenty five 454 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 1: miles between two am and three thirty AM after having 455 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: a cup of coffee with two hundred milligrain milligrams of 456 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: coffee or a placebo um which was a cup of 457 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:12,160 Speaker 1: caffeinated coffee, or a thirty minute nap, and what they 458 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: wanted to look at the researchers they wanted to look 459 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:19,639 Speaker 1: at the inappropriate line crossings, self perceived fatigue and sleepiness 460 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 1: um to try to figure out how this nap, how 461 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:30,640 Speaker 1: this caffeine was affecting the participants, and they showed that 462 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 1: the napping led in the younger subset here led to 463 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:40,960 Speaker 1: fewer inappropriate line crossings than the middle aged participants, and 464 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:45,119 Speaker 1: during napping, young participants slept more and had more delta 465 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,679 Speaker 1: sleep than middle aged participants. And what is this pointing to. 466 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: It's not that um, young people should nap more, although 467 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 1: go for it if they want, um, but it's pointing 468 00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,640 Speaker 1: to the fact that as you get older, it's harder 469 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: to drop into a sleep state, and it's harder to 470 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 1: stay in it and and be more engaged in it. 471 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 1: So it's another one of those like you has wasted 472 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: on the youth. They can nap the best, and yet 473 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: they're probably not napping so much. Now. Finally, one more 474 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,440 Speaker 1: study I want to mention here is a study that 475 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 1: came out in two thousand fourteen that was published in 476 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: the American Journal of Epidemiology, and it found correlation between 477 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: daytime napping and increased mortality risk among sixteen thousand British 478 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,400 Speaker 1: men and women surveyed. Uh Specifically, they found that daytime 479 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,679 Speaker 1: nappers were nearly a third more likely to die before 480 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: they turned sixty five. Now, this led to a lot 481 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,720 Speaker 1: of headlines making the rounds um naps linked to death, 482 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: naps linked to increased mortality rates, et cetera, which makes 483 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:50,960 Speaker 1: it sound like naps are killing people. If you nap 484 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,160 Speaker 1: too much, then you you're going to die. But but really, 485 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,640 Speaker 1: what this all boiled down to is that excessive daytime 486 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: napping might be a useful marker of underlying health risk, 487 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,680 Speaker 1: particularly respiratory problems UM in people that are sixty five 488 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 1: years of age or younger. So the fact that you're 489 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: sleeping a little extra, you're taking you know, more naps, 490 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: maybe long naps every day, that in and of itself 491 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: is not the problem, but it might be a sign 492 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,880 Speaker 1: of other existing health concerns that will ultimately cut your 493 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 1: life short. Okay, So to be clear, we're not talking 494 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: about the quick twenty minute nap here. We're talking about 495 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:33,160 Speaker 1: excessive napping, perhaps even sleeping through the afternoon, which, besides 496 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 1: being associated with maybe some underlying health conditions, could also 497 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 1: be associated with UM depression, as we know that that's 498 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: one of the red flags. Yeah, I incidantly think of depression. 499 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: And then also, um, you know, individuals are saying bedridden 500 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: with some sort of condition or injury, right, I mean, 501 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:54,280 Speaker 1: obviously that's the reason you're in bed, that's the reason 502 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 1: you're you're you're you're napping excessively. Uh, and that may 503 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: be the thing that's going to impact your health. And 504 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: also you would have uh, you know, a more sedentary 505 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: situation for your body as well, right, which could spiral 506 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: into other effects. Still, when you get down to it, 507 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: I feel like the pros really went out against the 508 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 1: cons here when it comes to napping, especially if you 509 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: can nap in a hammock rather than a bed. Oh yes, yeah, yeah, 510 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,240 Speaker 1: well sure this is this is scientifically proven. Uh huh, 511 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: because it turns out that hammocks are just adult sized 512 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,360 Speaker 1: rocking cradles and uh. This this was from a two 513 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: thousand and eleven study from the issue of Current Biology 514 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: in which twelve participants slept in an experimental hammock, and 515 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: the researchers found that the rocking increased the duration of 516 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: stage and to sleep. This is that form of non 517 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 1: rapid eye movement sleep that normally occupies about half of 518 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 1: a good night's sleeps with quality sleep, and this rocking 519 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: configuration of a bed hammock also had lasting effects on 520 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: brain activity, increasing slow oscillations and bursts of activity known 521 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: as we As we mentioned before, sleep spindles. So yeah, 522 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:12,720 Speaker 1: get you to a hammock that sounds that sounds like 523 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 1: the way to go then, So, based on what we've 524 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: discussed here, the idea is you need to take that 525 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: that nap you need to refresh your mind and body. 526 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 1: You want to drink some coffee, set your alarm for 527 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: twenty minutes, and then throw yourself in a hammock ideal ideal, Yeah, 528 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: with a little yea in the background. Maybe I don't 529 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,320 Speaker 1: know about that. Actually, yeah, go for it. It's doothing. 530 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: I used to listen to any all the time. Now 531 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: if you don't have time for that, you could consider 532 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 1: blinking as a kind of extreme micro nap. That that 533 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: sounds made up right there. That sounds like something I 534 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: would say in a program like I don't take naps. 535 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:53,719 Speaker 1: I just blink a lot, and then that takes care 536 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 1: of the problem. Well, okay, there's this idea. There's this idea. 537 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 1: Researchers were onto something here. If you're like, the about 538 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,520 Speaker 1: of blinking that goes on, you know, for the average 539 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:09,000 Speaker 1: person is way too much for like clearing debris away. Okay, 540 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 1: we blink far more than it is actually necessary. So 541 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,840 Speaker 1: what they did is they begin to look at how 542 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,520 Speaker 1: people blink throughout the day. And by the way, this 543 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: is in a two thousand twelve paper published in the 544 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Uh. They 545 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,920 Speaker 1: found that people tend to blink at predictable moments. So 546 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:30,440 Speaker 1: when you're reading, when you get to the end of 547 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:34,560 Speaker 1: a sentence, you'll will typically blink. If someone is speaking, 548 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: you may blink when the speaker pauses between statements. And 549 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,680 Speaker 1: if a group of people are all watching the same video, 550 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,200 Speaker 1: everyone tends to blink at the moment when the action 551 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 1: briefly lags. And so the idea here is that that 552 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,960 Speaker 1: that brief shuttering of the the eyes, the window shades 553 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: there that refreshes the brain and it momentarily stems the 554 00:31:55,880 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 1: flow of stimuli. And I was thinking about this because 555 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: you we do videos, and um, when we first started 556 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,360 Speaker 1: doing these videos, we didn't have a teleprompter, which meant 557 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: that you'd have to write the script right, you do 558 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: your research, write your script, and then ten minutes later 559 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,800 Speaker 1: you would commit the stuff to your memory. And I 560 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:21,440 Speaker 1: noticed that I was blinking like mad. And I do 561 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 1: think some of that has to do with recall, we 562 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:26,520 Speaker 1: use a teleprompter now and so there's less blinking. I 563 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,719 Speaker 1: think you're right, I think because I definitely remember blinking 564 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:33,520 Speaker 1: more during those and and certainly i'd have to look 565 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 1: back and look at some of the videos we do 566 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: that and that don't use a teleprompter, and see if 567 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 1: there I can see a difference between my my blinking 568 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: in uh say an ethics science versus a monster science. Yeah, 569 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 1: and uh yeah that I just noticed at one point 570 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: that was like, gosh, my eyes are just fluttering like mad. 571 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,960 Speaker 1: I look like there's I've got some sort of blinking disorder. 572 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:57,880 Speaker 1: We What we should have done is just kept with 573 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: that strategy and have Tyler put little blue circles over 574 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: our eyes or green ones. And then you can just 575 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,080 Speaker 1: use c G I later to just keep our eyes open, 576 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 1: just non blinking. That wouldn't be creepy, No, not at all. All. Right, 577 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 1: there you go, sleep and the nap. You know, Let's 578 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: call over our let's call our robot out of its 579 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:26,719 Speaker 1: unnatural slumber and see if we have a little listener mail. Alright, 580 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,320 Speaker 1: this one comes to us from Nevin. Uh. Nevin writes 581 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: in and says, hi, guys, ope that you were both 582 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 1: doing well. It seems like an awful long time since 583 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 1: had the opportunity to enjoy having breakfast with both of 584 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:38,280 Speaker 1: you at the Majestic. I missed that place anyway. A 585 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,840 Speaker 1: student who minored in sociology. I really enjoyed the Mean 586 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: World Syndrome podcast. I don't watch a lot of television, 587 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,320 Speaker 1: but when you look at movie buildings, that often seems 588 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: to me as if the movies which have a tendency 589 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:52,680 Speaker 1: to violence are the ones that get top billing. More 590 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 1: complex movies, which one often which are often more realistic 591 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: or actually really or actual real life, don't then to 592 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: feature as much. Is this because actual real life the 593 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,760 Speaker 1: scene is boring that if we look too closely we 594 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:08,040 Speaker 1: will be saddened by what we see. I don't know, 595 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 1: but I think this is worth thinking about as an 596 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,640 Speaker 1: example of mean world syndrome. I stayed in Harlem and 597 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:15,279 Speaker 1: New York City once. I was warned by all Uh 598 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 1: and Sundry to be extremely careful there. It was dangerous, 599 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,279 Speaker 1: there was a big chance I'd be mugged, etcetera, etcetera. 600 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 1: Had any of the people saying this actually been there, 601 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:26,839 Speaker 1: note they only knew it from television. All the best 602 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: to you both. Nevin should explain that Nevin is from Ireland. 603 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,840 Speaker 1: He's from Cork and he is a listener of ours, 604 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,440 Speaker 1: and we had breakfast with him one day at the Majestic, 605 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 1: which is this great breakfast place here in Atlanta, And uh, 606 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: it was so great talking to Nevin. He just has 607 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:48,319 Speaker 1: all these amazing insights. So you know, yet again here 608 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,360 Speaker 1: we have something he's bringing up from mean world and um, 609 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,399 Speaker 1: and I thought that was really interesting because again he's 610 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:58,839 Speaker 1: he's coming to Harlem as someone who's not just um, 611 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: someone from the United States visiting there from a different state, 612 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:05,920 Speaker 1: but from a different country. And I thought, yeah, that's 613 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 1: the expectations are really outsized. Yeah, and I think he 614 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:11,600 Speaker 1: has a point there. I mean, people go to see 615 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:13,319 Speaker 1: movies for the most part, they want the drama, they 616 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 1: want the conflict, right, and so what kind of a 617 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:19,320 Speaker 1: world gives you more drama and conflict, the mean world 618 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:23,479 Speaker 1: or the the the less mean world of reality, Which 619 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,919 Speaker 1: also brought to mind, and I wrote back to nev 620 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:28,080 Speaker 1: And about this, is that I think one of the 621 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: reasons why Game of Thrones does those big narrative dumps 622 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:34,879 Speaker 1: during a sex scene is because they know that people 623 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,560 Speaker 1: aren't going to be interested in this sort of um 624 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:40,839 Speaker 1: plot points that have to be put out there, those 625 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:43,719 Speaker 1: sort of more dry narratives, so they face it with 626 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,200 Speaker 1: something that really lends to a sort of escapist moment. 627 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,520 Speaker 1: Shall we say yeah in the In the books, most 628 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:53,440 Speaker 1: of those moments were involved food, characters eating like a 629 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:55,880 Speaker 1: big banquet and lots of descriptions of the food, and 630 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:59,440 Speaker 1: then all these plot details were thrown out. Well, I 631 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:03,239 Speaker 1: would say that the series has also tapped into a 632 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:07,840 Speaker 1: kind of pleasure reward system there indeed, all right, So 633 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:09,920 Speaker 1: there you have it. Hey, In the meantime, if you 634 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:13,560 Speaker 1: want to listen to past episodes, check out blog post, videos, etcetera. 635 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 1: Go to Stuff to Blow your mind dot com. That 636 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:18,440 Speaker 1: is the motorship, that is the homepage. And if you 637 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:20,680 Speaker 1: have any thoughts please do you send them our way. 638 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 1: You can email us at below the mind at how 639 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:28,800 Speaker 1: stuff forts dot com. For more on this and thousands 640 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:37,080 Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.