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Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology
Matthew Walker is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at UC Berkeley, the Director of its Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab, and a former professor of psychiatry at Harvard University. He has published over 100 scientific studies and has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nova, BBC News, and NPR’s Science Friday.
Dr. Walker

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

Dr. Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when it is absent. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive. Within the brain, sleep enriches a diversity of functions, including our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge, inspiring creativity. In this “compelling and utterly convincing” (The Sunday Times) book, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshaling his decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood, and energy levels, regulate hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes, slow the effects of aging, and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night’s sleep every night.

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Dr. Walker

Professor

Dr. Walker earned his degree in neuroscience from Nottingham University, UK, and his Ph.D. in neurophysiology from the Medical Research Council, London, UK. He subsequently became a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, USA. 

Currently, he is Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He is also the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science

Dr. Walker’s research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease. He has received numerous funding awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, and is a Kavli Fellow of theNational Academy of Sciences

His research examines the impact of sleep on human brain function in healthy and disease populations. To date, he has published over 100 scientific research studies

*Info From Sleep Diplomat

Dr. Walker

Author

Dr. Walker is the author of the International Bestseller, Why We Sleep. It has a singular goal: to reunite humanity with sleep.

The book provides a complete description of, and prescription for, sleep. It answers critical questions about sleep: how do caffeine and alcohol affect sleep? What really happens during dreaming? Why do our sleep patterns change across a lifetime? How do common sleep pills affect us and can they do long-term damage?

Charting cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and synthesizing decades of research and clinical practice, Why We Sleep explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood, and energy levels; regulate hormones; prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s, obesity and diabetes; slow the effects of aging; increase longevity; enhance the education and lifespan of our children; and boost the efficiency, success, and productivity of our businesses.

The book concludes with a provocative new vision for sleep in the modern world, one that aims to solve the greatest public-health challenge we now face: the global sleep-loss epidemic. 

Why We Sleep was recently selected for the prestigious Sundance Book Festival. It will be translated into 34 different languages. Why We Sleep can be found at all major books stores in the US (Scribner) and UK (Penguin Random House), and ordered online at AmazonBarnes & Noble, and Waterstones

As an author, Dr. Walker is represented by the talent agency, WME​. 

Should you be interested in contacting Dr. Walker as a writer, please email WME by clicking here.

* Info From Sleep Diplomat 

Dr. Walker

Speaker

Dedicated to the communication of science, Dr. Walker is an internationally recognized speaker, media discussant. His TED talk one of the fastest to reach 1M views. He is a frequent feature on mainstream television and radio outlets, including CBS, and the BBC.

 

Dr. Walker has been interviewed across a collection of radio and podcast programs, including the Joe Rogan podcast, the BBC and NRP’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, City Arts & Lectures, Hidden Brain, Science Friday and NPR Forum.

 
 
With the goal of promoting sleep's critical importance, he speaks at events and forums available to the general public, and offers workshops to business leaders, technology firms, and medical and healthcare professionals.
 
 
Dr. Walker was the feature of a CBS 60 Minutes special entitled, The Science of Sleep. Dr. Walker has also helped create the recent National Geographic documentary, Sleepless in America, and the PBS NOVA special, Memory Hackers. Most recently, he has contributed to the BBC Horizon documentary, Curing Alzheimer’s.
 
 
Dr. Walker's numerous presentations include several Google Tech talks, the prestigious Royal Institute (Ri) and Royal Society for the Arts (RSA) in London, and The Smithsonian in Washington.
 
Dr. Walker

Entrepreneur

Dr. Walker holds numerous US patents concerning consumer-based sleep recording, sleep tracking and sleep stimulation.

Dr. Walker also owns several patents focused on the commercial use of consumer-based sleep measures as they apply to health, technology, business and enterprise. 

Previously, Dr. Walker has served as scientific counsel for numerous technology companies, including Hello and Fitbit.

Currently, Dr. Walker is a Sleep Scientist at Google. Here, Dr. Walker helps the scientific exploration of sleep in health and disease. 

* Info From Sleep Diplomat 

Why We Sleep

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