Matt Walker

Professor of Neuroscience & Biomedical Engineering, UTD, Center for BrainHealth · Sleep Scientist · Author: Why We Sleep · Podcaster · CEO Nightfall IQ

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

16 people cycled to exhaustion twice, after 90 minutes of either hard mental work or documentaries. 🚴 Mentally tired, they lasted 640 seconds vs 754. Heart and muscle readings barely changed; the ride felt harder. 🦵 Two 2020 reviews disagree on whether it holds up. #Exercise

https://t.co/8Nagt7kq60

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Tired and sleepy are two different things. 😴 In 606 sleep-disorder patients, fatigue and sleepiness went together only moderately. Depression was the strongest predictor of fatigue, yet a poor marker of sleepiness. You can be worn out without being sleepy. 🧠 #Fatigue

https://t.co/8Nagt7kq60

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Does one hard task use up your self-control for the next? 🪫 23 labs tested it on 2,141 people and found no clear effect. A later test with 36 labs and 3,531 people found none either, though a wider look at the data found a very small one. Shaky, not disproven. 🔬 #SelfControl

https://t.co/8Nagt7kq60

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Why does mental work exhaust us if the brain's energy use stays steady?

We explore the true science of mental fatigue, why ego depletion is a myth, and what actually helps.

How do you recharge?
#BrainScience #MentalFatigue

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Cute aggression is the urge to squeeze something adorable without wanting to hurt it. 🐶 Research on 54 adults ties the urge to feeling overwhelmed by positive emotion. It's like crying when you're happy: a good feeling coming out in a way that looks negative. 💥 #Emotion

https://t.co/WEW03R9hZo

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Look away from a clock and back, and the second hand seems to hang. 🕰️ Your eyes blur as they jump, so the brain fills the gap by stretching the next image back in time. Lab volunteers overestimated that first moment by around a tenth of a second or more. 👁️ #Perception

https://t.co/WEW03R9POW

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Older adults have tip-of-the-tongue moments about twice as often as younger ones, especially for names and rarer words. 👅 But in a study of 718 adults aged 18-99, that rise had little to do with the kind of memory tested when checking for memory problems. ⏳ #Aging

https://t.co/WEW03R9POW

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Your recorded voice can sound like someone else's. 🎙️ Live, you hear yourself through the air and through your skull. A recording has only the air part. Yet 80 people, not told their own voice was in the set, rated it more attractive than other listeners did. 🦴 #Hearing

https://t.co/WEW03R9hZo

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Why does the brain pull off daily illusions?

We examine 10 everyday quirks, from the stopped clock to why you cannot tickle yourself. These glitches reveal the hidden editing of a healthy mind.

Which fascinates you the most?
#BrainScience

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Should you wake a sleepwalker? 🛏️ A 2023 clinical review advises parents and bed partners not to wake or engage them, as it can worsen or prolong the episode. The advice rests on clinical experience. The same review recommends making the bedroom and route safe. 🚪 #Sleep

https://t.co/Xi2Kl6Bt6O

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

The brain can wake up in sections, like circuits on a fuse box. 💡 Across 84 parasomnia episodes, 256-electrode caps showed sensory and movement areas at the back of the brain partly waking. Frontal areas for judgement and emotional control stayed asleep. 🧠 #Neuroscience
https://t.co/Xi2Kl6Bt6O

[Matt Walker @sleepdiplomat]

Diagnostic criteria say sleepwalking comes with little or no mental experience. Patients often disagree. 💭 Of 38 interviewed patients referred for severe sleepwalking or sleep terrors, 27 recalled a dream-like scene matching what they did, usually a fearful one. 😨 #Dreams

https://t.co/Xi2Kl6AVhg