News about Matthew Walker

According to Dr. Matthew Walker, a neuroscience and psychology professor at the University of California, a nap should not last longer than 20 minutes. Sleep is divided into four parts, according to him, and the second stage, which takes about 20 minutes, is the most suitable napping time.

DR MICHAEL MOSLEY: In deep sleep, you're most relaxed and difficult to wake up, but below the surface there's a lot going on. For example, your pituitary gland in the brain begins to secretly secrete more growth hormone, which is vital for cell growth and repair. Deep sleep also increases the production of cytokines, a form of protein that is vital in fighting infections, which is partly responsible for your increased risk of colds and decreases the effectiveness of vaccines against infections such as the flu.

Older people may be able to forget memory loss caused by Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form of dementia. According to recent U.S. studies, people with signs of the disorder - rather than symptoms - can be shielded from memory loss if they have good-quality, deep sleep. This comes as UK researchers have recently embarked on a study looking at how improving sleep quality could help reduce the symptoms of people with the condition.

A personal trainer has shared her tips for people who sleep well but wake up feeling drained. According to Rachael Attard, a Sydney woman, one-third of adults don't get enough shut-eye, and it revealed how your body will suffer if you don't get enough sleep each night. People should do during the day and before going to bed to ensure they get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling refreshed in the morning, according to the nutritionist.

Sleep scientists at the University of Berekeley, California, have found that what you eat for breakfast and how much you sleep and exercise can determine whether you wake up sluggish and heavy or not. The three-step process, developed by some of the world's top sleep researchers, calls for a strenuous workout, sleeping longer and later, and eating a high-carb breakfast. For avoiding grogginess the next day, seven-nine hours is a good start, but even a little longer could help, according to the team. According to senior study author and psychologist Matthew Walker, a lie-in also helps to curb feelings of exhaustion.

Experts at the University of California, Berkeley, estimated how nearly 4 million charitable donations increased in the weeks leading up to and after Daylight Saving Time. After the switch, which cut people's sleep by an hour, they found a 10 percent decrease in the number of donations made. People who slept less than four days were significantly less likely to want to help others in a separate survey of 136 people over four days.