Trade-off between Sleep and Success: Would you do anything differently?
Hello, My name is Blade Brady and I'd first like to thank the entire Huberman Lab team for all of the invaluable information and knowledge you all make available to us! The first question I have for you, Professor Huberman, is given all the data on how fundamental sleep is to our overall health, what, if anything, would you have done differently in your prioritization of sleep vs achieving your goals. I graduated from Harvard University (hoping to go to Stanford for Grad School !) where I also played football, so there were many sleepless nights. I knew at the time that it probably wasn't the healthiest practice, but it was a conscious sacrifice I made in service of achieving the academic and athletic (and sometimes social) goals I set for myself. You've alluded to a similar pattern of sleepless nights during your academic career, so as someone who is obviously a very driven and passionate person, I'm curious if given the ability to go back in time, would you prioritize your sleep at the expense of maybe not achieving as highly? Would you make the same decisions to place your goals ahead of sleep and your health? Or do you have any ideas on a schedule/ daily routine one could implement where you wouldn't have to sacrifice either? Thank you again for all the contributions you and your team make :)
Neurobiology of cephalopods
Hello, my name is Blade Brady and I'd first like to thank the entire Huberman Lab team for all this invaluable information you all make available to us. This isn't a single, specific question but I'd be very interested to learn more about the neurobiology of cephalopods! I wonder if there are any interesting or actionable insights to be learned from comparing the similarities and differences between their cognition and ours. Some specific questions are: I believe in octopi, 2/3 of their neurons are located in their periphery. What evolutionary imperative is thought to have driven this adaption? The evolutionary logic of vertebrates would suggest this is a huge risk, so why would this adaptation be selected for in the first place and how have they been able to sustain their place as pretty high-level predators? Aside from a different organization of the nervous system, are there differences in the communication between regions (different neuro modulators, are the dendritic and axonal projections different that in vertebrates, differences in the nerve cell bodies)? Are there differences in the overall size or complexity of their genome vs ours? By looking at their cognition, can we learn anything about what "intelligence" is or how/why homo sapiens' intelligence seems to have let us dominate this planet? (Also, if we as a species are "smart" enough to manipulate this planet so drastically, why (in your opinion) does it seem like we're not smart enough (again, as a species) to do so in a way that doesn't deplete the planet's resources to an unsustainable level?
Similarities between eusocial species and our cognition?
Hello, my name is Blade Brady and I'd first like to thank the entire Huberman Lab Team for all this invaluable information! I was wondering if there are any interesting insights to be learned from examining the cognitive mechanisms of eusocial species like ants and bees. Is the colony-wide communication of say, a colony of ants or bees, similar to the neurocircuitry of a human brain? If not, how is a collection of "less-intelligent" singular organisms able to consistently create complex systems like a beehive or ant colony with specialization of labor, architecture that seems to exhibit at least rudimentary signs of what is basically civil engineering?
Which non-human animals are the most interesting to you?
Professor Huberman, I think it would be great if you could do an AMA topic on which non-human animals are most interesting to you! Either because of their nervous system, evolutionary path, social interactions, anything! Thank you, -Blade Brady
Bad sleep due to hard workout
Hello, I've been listening to the podcasts dedicated to sleep, but I can't seem to find an explanation for this situation: why is it that on hard training days (1h of crossfit), I sleep much worse than on any other day? I even follow the recommended behavior tips, such as getting natural light exposure as early as possible and for most of the day, avoiding screens for at least 2 hours before bedtime, having an early dinner, etc. Sleeping poorly in this case means waking up many times during the night, not finding a comfortable position in bed and tossing and turning, waking up after about 3 hours and not being able to fall back asleep, and sometimes not being able to fall asleep at all. Do you have any ideas about possible reasons for this? Any advice on incorporating habits to improve it? Do you recommend any supplements? Thank you, Doctor.