<ul><li>The foods you eat can influence neurotransmitters and wakefulness or sleepiness. High protein or high carb meals, as well as meal volume and timing, activate changes in body temperature, blood flow, and hormone release that modulate arousal states.</li><li>Foods high in tyrosine (meat, nuts) support alertness by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine. Foods high in tryptophan (turkey, fish, carbs) increase serotonin and sleepiness.</li><li>Smaller volumes and fewer carbs support wakefulness. Larger, high-carb dinners often aid sleep.</li></ul>

Food

<ul><li> Choose one or two factors to change at a time and note the effects to determine what works best for you.</li><li> Be cautious with any supplements and check with your doctor, especially if on any medications. Effects of the same compound can vary significantly between individuals.</li><li> Neuroplasticity allows us to learn and change but requires consistency and repetition over time. New behaviors or habits feel unnatural at first but become second nature.</li></ul>

Considerations

<ul><li>Core body temperature follows an endogenous circadian rhythm that influences wakefulness and sleepiness. It is usually the lowest around 4 AM and peaks 12–16 hours later between 4-6 PM.</li><li>Temperature changes can shift circadian rhythms and wakefulness. Exercise, cold exposure, hot showers or saunas at different times of day will have different effects. Doing so in the morning advances your rhythm, at night delays it.</li><li>Cold showers or ice baths in the morning increase alertness in the short-term and may increase metabolism by activating brown fat thermogenesis if shivering occurs.</li></ul>

Temperature

<ul><li>Eat your largest meal earlier in the day. A light dinner helps with sleep. Stay hydrated and avoid excess screen time, caffeine, or sugar at night.</li><li>Start slowly and be consistent when implementing any new tools or protocols. Look for any resulting patterns to determine the right approach for your needs. Individualize.</li><li>Age, sex, season, diet, and geography significantly impact your circadian biology, sleep needs, and cognition. Learn how these variables currently affect you.</li></ul>

Using Science to Optimize Sleep, Learning & Metabolism — Key Takeaways, Part 2

<ul><li>Exercise provides an opportunity to train your circadian rhythm. Doing so at the same time each day develops an anticipatory response to wake up.</li><li>The type, intensity, and timing of exercise depends on individual needs and schedules. Cardiovascular or resistance exercise can be done whenever works for you, but around 30 minutes after waking or 3–4 hours after tends to optimize performance and minimize injury risk.</li><li>Pay attention to your sleep need and recovery in relation to exercise intensity. If exercise is too intense for your current capacity, you may feel persistent fatigue or sleepiness.</li></ul>

Exercise

<ul><li>There is little high-quality evidence for most supplements marketed as “smart drugs” or nootropics. They tend to provide a stimulatory “shotgun approach” rather than specifically targeting learning, memory, creativity, or mood. Use with caution.</li><li>Magnesium, apigenin, and passionflower may aid sleep by increasing GABA, a calming neurotransmitter. Effects vary between individuals, so start with low doses.</li><li>L-tryptophan or 5-HTP increase serotonin. While they may help some people sleep, the effects can disrupt sleep architecture and vary greatly between individuals. Higher is not always better.</li></ul>

Supplements

<ul><li>Your circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycle depend greatly on light exposure, temperature, feeding times, and physical activity. Make note of how these factors currently influence you.</li><li>Increase light, especially sunlight, within 1–2 hours of waking. Dim light before bed. These help set your circadian rhythm.</li><li>Exercise daily at the same time. This trains your body to be active at that time, even when you don't feel like it. But avoid intense exercise late in the evening.</li></ul>

Using Science to Optimize Sleep, Learning & Metabolism — Key Takeaways, Part 1

<ul><li>Melatonin signals night length to our cells and circadian clocks. As days shorten in winter, melatonin levels increase, correlating with lowered mood, metabolism, and fertility in many animals. Light therapy can help counteract this.</li><li>Changes between the seasons significantly impact circadian rhythms, mood, metabolism, and hormone levels in humans. Some people are more strongly affected than others. Among those with notable changes, depression tends to be more common in winter.</li></ul>

Seasonal Changes

<ul><li>Consider how much sunlight or bright light exposure you get each day and record the times to identify any patterns. Getting adequate light, especially in the morning, helps entrain circadian rhythms.</li><li>Moonlight and firelight will not disrupt circadian rhythms or wake you up, since they lack the intensity and blue wavelengths to stimulate the photosensitive retinal ganglion cells involved in circadian regulation.</li><li>Red light may benefit mitochondrial function in photoreceptors if used briefly in the morning, but is too bright for use at night.</li></ul>

Light

<ul><li>Males and females, on average, differ in traits influenced by sex-specific genes, hormones, and biology. However, there is significant overlap between the sexes and diversity within each sex.</li><li>Females experience fluctuations in reproductive hormones, circadian rhythms, body temperature, and sleep across the menstrual cycle and during pregnancy and postpartum periods.</li><li>Studies are revealing sex differences in areas like circadian rhythms, sleep, drug response, and mood disorders. A better understanding of sex differences could guide more personalized treatments.</li></ul>

The Role of Sex Differences

The podcast discusses many factors that influence sleep, wakefulness, and cognition. It focuses on questions from listeners on a variety of topics related to neuroscience, biology, light, temperature, and behavior. Dr. Huberman highlight some key principles and tools for optimizing alertness, sleep, and learning.

“Office Hours” — In this episode, I answer your most commonly asked questions about science-supported tools for accessing more alertness, better learning, and quality sleep. I also cover when to exercise, time meals, and how to systematically vary your temperature to achieve specific effects on your nervous system. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Introduction (00:00:31) Sponsors: AG1, LMNT, Thesis, Momentous (00:05:50) Moonlight & Fire (09:25:00) Red Light: Good & Bad (00:15:45) Why Blue-Blockers Are Unscientific (00:19:20) Eyeglasses, Contact Lenses & Windows (00:22:05) Adding Up Your Lights (00:24:30) “Netflix Inoculation” With Light (00:25:25) How The Planet Controls Your Energy (00:27:00) A Season For Breeding (?) (00:31:15) Melatonin / Serotonin (00:33:50) Epinephrine vs Adrenaline: Same? Different? (00:35:00) Exercise & Your Sleep (00:40:30) Neuroplasticity & Food/Chemicals/NSDR (00:44:10) Using Sound & Smell To Learn Faster (00:46:45) Dream Meaning & Remembering (00:48:15) Waking Up Paralyzed (00:49:40) Nap/Focus Ratios For Accelerated Learning (00:52:45) Hypnotizing Yourself (00:54:05) Smart Drugs (01:01:10) Magnesium: Yay, Nay, or Meh? (01:02:10) How Apigenin Works (01:04:30) Serotonin: Slippery Slope (01:05:35) The Frog Experiment (01:08:35) Temperature (01:10:30) Morning Chills (01:28:00) Eating For Heating (01:30:30) Vagal Pathways For Gut-Brain Dialogue (01:31:50) Sex Differences (01:33:50) Self Experimentation As always, thank you for your interest in science! Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

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“Office Hours” — In this episode, I answer your most commonly asked questions about science-supported tools for accessing more alertness, better learning, and quality sleep. I also cover when to exercise, time meals, and how to systematically vary your temperature to achieve specific effects on your nervous system. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Introduction (00:00:31) Sponsors: AG1, LMNT (00:05:50) Moonlight & Fire (09:25:00) Red Light: Good & Bad (00:15:45) Why Blue-Blockers Are Unscientific (00:19:20) Eyeglasses, Contact Lenses & Windows (00:22:05) Adding Up Your Lights (00:24:30) “Netflix Inoculation” With Light (00:25:25) How The Planet Controls Your Energy (00:27:00) A Season For Breeding (?) (00:31:15) Melatonin / Serotonin (00:33:50) Epinephrine vs Adrenaline: Same? Different? (00:35:00) Exercise & Your Sleep (00:40:30) Neuroplasticity & Food/Chemicals/NSDR (00:44:10) Using Sound & Smell To Learn Faster (00:46:45) Dream Meaning & Remembering (00:48:15) Waking Up Paralyzed (00:49:40) Nap/Focus Ratios For Accelerated Learning (00:52:45) Hypnotizing Yourself (00:54:05) Smart Drugs (01:01:10) Magnesium: Yay, Nay, or Meh? (01:02:10) How Apigenin Works (01:04:30) Serotonin: Slippery Slope (01:05:35) The Frog Experiment (01:08:35) Temperature (01:10:30) Morning Chills (01:28:00) Eating For Heating (01:30:30) Vagal Pathways For Gut-Brain Dialogue (01:31:50) Sex Differences (01:33:50) Self Experimentation As always, thank you for your interest in science! Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Huberman Lab discusses neuroscience: how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. His laboratory studies neural regeneration, neuroplasticity, and brain states such as stress, focus, fear, and optimal performance. For more than 20 years, Dr. Huberman has consistently published original research findings and review articles in top-level peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, Cell, Neuron, and Current Biology. He is a regular member of several National Institutes of Health review panels and a Fellow of the McKnight Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Dr. Huberman regularly consults for technology development companies, professional athletic organizations, and various units of U.S. and Canadian Special Operations.

Seasonal Changes

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