What we find is that there's something in our brain that makes us sleepier and sleepier, and it's called adenosine . Adenosine is actually a byproduct of cells, so when a cell eats a piece of glucose, something comes out the back end.Part of what comes out the back end is adenosine , and adenosine works its way through the bloodstream, gets into the brain, and it goes to a very specific receptor
That's what it looks like. This blue and black thing upper left is adenine. The black and red thing in the middle is ribose. And the little red and yellow thing is phosphate. Adenosine monophosphate. That is one of the sub-unit monomers of all nucleic acids.So what we're gonna try to do is to get that to polymerize under these conditions I've been telling you about. Here's a cartoon of what we think is happening. There's the lipid
of a chemical called adenosine . And adenosine is like a marker of sleep deprivation. Now, does anybody in this room use an adenosine blocker for their health?
It's one piece. It's one piece. And it poops out adenosine .
It's one piece. It's one piece. And that's why adenosine is a very good marker for sleepiness across the day.
20 hours, you'll have to fight to actually stay awake, and that corresponds to an increase in your brain of a chemical called adenosine . And adenosine is like a marker of sleep deprivation.
Part of what comes out the back end is adenosine , and adenosine works its way through the bloodstream, gets into the brain, and it goes to a very specific receptor site specifically for adenosine . And as that builds up, we get sleepier and sleepier and sleepier.
So that's sleep drive. We want adenosine to raise at a very consistent level, get to a certain point. Usually, around 10:30, 11:00 o'clock at night, it kind of reaches its max, and that's when most people fall asleep.
It's one piece. It's one piece. What caffeine is doing is actually blocking adenosine from hitting your receptors.
But then once your brain burns through the caffeine, the adenosine comes flooding in, and that's where you get that caffeine crash, because it's all that adenosine and that's actually now made its way through the floodgates. So that's sleep drive.
So the same holds true with sleep is you have this circadian system, and this actually makes you want to get sleepier at particular times irrespective of adenosine . So how many people in here, by a raise of hands, have ever had the situation, where you're exhausted?
Almost never. Your brain just starts going and going and going and going. That's a situation where your adenosine is very, very high, but your circadian rhythm is off, because you went to bed too early. One of the number one things that my insomnia patients do is go to bed too early, which sounds completely counterintuitive.
So I'd start off with these topics, and you'll find them actually quite interesting. You'll reduce the amount of adenosine in your system so that you're not as sleepy.
I am here to talk with you today about ATP. Many of you know ATP to be adenosine triphosphate, the energy carrying shuttle service molecule found in the cells of all living things.
that just builds up in the brain and makes you feel drowsy. And caffeine basically muscles in and masks the adenosine receptors. So you don't actually feel that same level of drowsiness.
Adenosine is actually a byproduct of cells, so when a cell eats a piece of glucose, something comes out the back end.Part of what comes out the back end is adenosine , and adenosine works its way through the bloodstream, gets into the brain, and it goes to a very specific receptor site specifically for adenosine .
Molecularly, caffeine is very similar to a chemical called adenosine . Now, adenosine is the thing that your brain produces throughout the day-- which is what makes you sleepy-- and is the thing that cues you to go to bed at the end of the night.
And just so many happy memories eating that. Because when you combine the two, the adenosine and the insulin receptors in the brain now become more frazzled, and you can't focus.
At the same time, it's upping your stress hormones, making you feel light and jittery and alert. But when the caffeine degrades, the adenosine is still there. It hasn't gone anywhere.
And adenosine is like a marker of sleep deprivation. Now, does anybody in this room use an adenosine blocker for their health? OK. How many of you had a cup of coffee this morning?
OK. How many of you had a cup of coffee this morning? OK. So caffeine is an adenosine blocker, and the reason why caffeine works in waking you up is because its effect on adenosine . So the other thing that controls the timing of sleep is a circadian biological clock.
It's one piece. It's one piece. And as you use your energy, you have these little adenosine molecules that actually get built up along with that energy use.
It's one piece. It's one piece. And it's telling you that you're not-- that you don't have that much adenosine in your system.
It hasn't gone anywhere. And so you can get this wave of tiredness, this caffeine crash from all the adenosine that's been building up. But you've been masking its effects so you didn't realize how tired you really were.
Now why all this talk about neurochemistry? Well, it turns out that if you look at the molecular structure of adenosine , and you look at the molecular structure of caffeine, they're off by one molecule. Right? So here's what happens is when you're getting tired, and you're putting down the coffee or the energy drinks or what have you, that actually goes,
Right? So here's what happens is when you're getting tired, and you're putting down the coffee or the energy drinks or what have you, that actually goes, and it fits really nicely into that receptor site, and it blocks the adenosine . But then once your brain burns through the caffeine, the adenosine comes flooding in, and that's where you get that caffeine crash,
and it fits really nicely into that receptor site, and it blocks the adenosine . But then once your brain burns through the caffeine, the adenosine comes flooding in, and that's where you get that caffeine crash, because it's all that adenosine and that's actually now made its way through the floodgates.
that kind of we get into that Vicious Circle to where the next day you need caffeine to get you going again so that's number one um and I break down the book how caffeine actually works with adenosine and all that stuff and it's very similar to alcohol so and number two is to cycle it so use
got more productive. But it's not as simple as that. Molecularly, caffeine is very similar to a chemical called adenosine . Now, adenosine is the thing that your brain produces throughout the day-- which is what makes you sleepy-- and is the thing that cues you to go
to bed at the end of the night. So when you ingest caffeine, these caffeine molecules are very similar to adenosine , so they block your brain's adenosine receptors. So it disallows your brain from knowing that you're tired, which is why you're able to do more.
Caffeine is essentially artificially hijacking your nervous system. It's disallowing you from feeling how tired you are because that caffeine is mimicking that adenosine and blocking those receptors in your brain, which is not that bad for you, in and of itself.
That's through a single wet-dry cycle you get these protocells. Same thing I just did for you here. OK, now a little bit of biochemistry. I'm gonna try to keep it as simple as I can for those of you who haven't had biochemistry. This is adenosine monophosphate. It's one of the four monomers of DNA and also one of the four monomers of RNA. That's what it looks like. This blue and black thing upper left is adenine. The black and red thing in the middle is ribose. And the little red and yellow thing is phosphate.
sites of oxygen consumption and and food consumption and then that gets transformed into a little charge battery. And once the battery is charged, the mitochondria can use that charge to make ATP, adenosine triphosphate, which is kind of the the cellular energy currency. If a cell wants to contract, right, a muscle cell wants to contract
not be getting optimal amounts. Yeah, that's a great question. So, uh adenosine triphosphate or ATP is the energy currency of all our cells and think of your muscle doing work or shoveling the driveway or walking, you're using your muscles and you need to maintain that level of energy to to
Any ideas what will block your sleep pressure? Caffeine. Caffeine, absolutely. So what's actually happening there is as sleep pressure builds up, is that you have this waste product from activity called adenosine that just builds up in the brain and makes you feel drowsy.
The same holds true with sleep. What we find is that there's something in our brain that makes us sleepier and sleepier, and it's called adenosine . Adenosine is actually a byproduct of cells, so when a cell eats a piece of glucose, something comes out the back end.
You can't sleep, because you've actually reduced sleep drive at that time. Your circadian rhythm is ready to sleep, but your drive is down, because you got rid of some of that adenosine during your nap. So we've all had both of these systems kind of go a little kooky for us, and so the goal here is to be able to get people
turn and you end up, for example, not being able to methylate or turn on dopamine receptors. So you can't focus or pay attention or concentrate. It prevents the energy production to preventing adenosine which needs to be methylated and so you lose energy in your body in your cells. It prevents methylation of neurotransmitters so you can't produce serotonin and-and-and epinephrine and adrenalin which help you focus.
for those of you who haven't had biochemistry. This is adenosine monophosphate. It's one of the four monomers of DNA and also one of the four monomers of RNA. That's what it looks like. This blue and black thing upper left is adenine. The black and red thing in the middle is ribose. And the little red and yellow thing is phosphate. Adenosine monophosphate. That is one of the sub-unit monomers of all nucleic acids.