Mind & Matter
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed it.
The weekly M&M podcast features conversations with the most interesting scientists, thinkers, and technology entrepreneurs alive today.
Not medical advice.
At M&M, we are interested in trying to figure out how things work, not affirming our existing beliefs. We prefer consulting primary rather than secondary sources and independent rather than institutional voices. If we encounter uncomfortable truths or the evidence suggests unfashionable ideas may be valid, so be it.
As the host, my aim is to help you better understand how the body & mind work by curating & synthesizing information in a way that yields science-based insights that you can choose to use or disregard in your own life. Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
I am motivated to connect the dots and distill general principles from what I learn, preferring to ask questions and play devil’s advocate to debating or incessantly pushing my own viewpoint.
My beliefs:
- Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
- All knowledge is provisional and we must work hard to prevent ourselves from becoming attached to our favorite ideas & preferred conclusions.
- Wisdom comes from an iterative, trial-and-error process of learning and unlearning. Letting go of pre-conceived notions can be painful, but pain is information.
Sometimes modern discoveries teach us we must unlearn received wisdom. Other times, modern information overload & historical chauvinism cause us to forget ancient wisdom which stills applies. The framework for learning that I embody is inspired by three Ancient Greek maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:
- “Γνῶθι σεαυτόν” (Know thyself)
- “Μηδὲν ἄγαν” (Nothing in excess)
- “Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα” (Certainty brings insanity)
Mind & Matter
Why Do Animals Sleep? | Vlad Vyazovskiy | 202
Short Summary: A deep dive into the enigmatic world of sleep, exploring its biological functions, evolutionary origins, and the diverse manifestations across different species.
Note: Podcast episodes are fully available to paid subscribers on the M&M Substack and on YouTube. Partial versions are available elsewhere.
About the Guest: Vlad Vyazovskiy, PhD is a Professor of Sleep Physiology at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics at Oxford University.
Key Takeaways:
- Sleep as a Mystery: Despite extensive research, the fundamental reason why animals sleep remains elusive, with no comprehensive theory yet agreed upon.
- Local Sleep Phenomenon: Sleep might not be a whole-brain event; even within a sleeping brain, different areas can be in different states of activity or rest.
- Sleep in Animals: Sleep varies widely among species, from micro-sleeps in penguins to unihemispheric sleep in dolphins, suggesting sleep could serve multiple, context-dependent functions.
- Synaptic Homeostasis: The hypothesis suggests that sleep could be crucial for renormalizing synaptic connections formed during wakefulness, although this idea is still under scrutiny.
- Hibernation & Torpor: These states relate to sleep but involve significant metabolic changes, possibly acting as survival mechanisms by conserving energy and reducing detectability by predators.
- Psychedelics & Sleep: Research shows psychedelics like 5-MeO-DMT can induce states where animals show signs of sleep in their brain activity while physically active, hinting at complex interactions between brain states and consciousness.
Related episodes:
- M&M #43: Sleep, Dreaming, Deep Neural Networks, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, Overfitted Brain Hypothesis, Evolution of Fiction & Art | Erik Hoel
- M&M #16: Sleep, Dreams, Memory & the Brain | Bob Stickgold
*Not medical advice.
All episodes (audio & video), show notes, transcripts, and more at the M&M Substack
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