Key takeaway 1 : Recognize your level of autonomic arousal (alterness) and adjust

The actions to take (e.g. listening to music, drinking coffee, …) depends on your own level of autonomic arousal. And this depends on many factors (your sleep, time of day, other parameters).

It's up to everybody to recognize their level and adjust accordingly.

A high-level of autonomic arousal (the GO pathway) will bias someone towards action and will make someone less good at suppressing action. So in that state, it will probably be better to turn off the phone, computer, music, …

Key takeaway 2 : The sweet spot

There exists a sweet spot for learning that allows one to pursue action (go pathway) and therefore learn but also to suppress undesired action (e.g. distractions).

Key takeway 3 : The environment counts

A cluttered environment tends to make us more alert because we have a lot of things (objects, sounds, …) to scan for (threats). This our salience network at work.

This is why some people that are used to live in cluttered environment (e.g. busy city), when they go to a retreat, become very anxious because their salience network that is always very active has nothing to scan for anymore and therefore turns inwards.

Key takeaway 4 : Exercise in the morning and/or fasted state

Exercise in the morning promotes alertness. Similarly fasted state and particularly low-carbs states promote alertness. This is because carbs are riched in tryptophan and tryptophan biases us towards sleepiness (precursor to melatonin).

Now eating any large amount of foods (carbs or not) will divert blood to your gut and will therefore drive energy and remove that energy availability for other things like learning.

Key takeaway 5 : Drinking a lot of water and ingesting caffeinated drinks dehydrate oneself

If one is drinking a lot of water coupled with caffeinated drinks (water, tea), one can dehydrate oneself through loss of electrolytes (sodium). If that happens (shaky, feeling headache) drinking a salty glass of water can help (provided one does not have hypertension).

Key takeaway 6 : Creativty requires a different state

When one has alterness and is good at suppressing the no-go pathway, that's a state when one is good at linear implementation. When one is almost sleepy (e.g. coming out of the NSDR) but has a kind of clear common focus state, and is feeling relaxed, that's a state when one will be good at creativity. Novel arrangements of things, …

Key takeaway 7 : Beware of statements about gluconeogenesis

Keto people are stating that gluconeogenesis allows replenishing glycogen stores. Huberman says that, to him, this is a lie but it works for people who are under hormones enhancing drugs.

So, for Huberman, having carbohydrates is necessary for replenishing glycogen stores efficiently. And he advises to do it in the evening because it biases calmness (through tryptophan).

Key takeaway 8 : Pre-sleep anxiety is normal and easy to solve

Near the end of the day, it's not uncommon to experience a raise in wakefulness. People go to sleep, they are tired, and when they enter their bed they feel right awake again.

This is normal. It's believed to be linked to the need for humans to protect themselves before a good night sleep when humans were vulnerable to attacks from animals or other humans.

The best way not to get anxious about that is knowing that it exists and taking it as an opportunity to maybe organize the next day, … but certainly not stressing about that blip in alterness. It's normal, it's expected.

Key takeaway 9 : Waking up in the middle of the night is the norm

Waking up in the middle of the night, say around 4 am if one went to bed at 10-11pm is normal. It shouldn't be considered sleep disorder and should not make one anxious about his sleep.

Key takeaway 9 : Vestibular system errors open up plasticity as well

Errors in the vestibular system (i.e. balance system) trigger plasticity. Indeed, a correct balance is key for survival. Therefore, any error there needs to be corrected fast.

However, in order to trigger plasticity, there must be errors in balance on one side but novelty as well. So someone who is skilled at handstand will get zero plasticity performing handstands. While someone who is not will probably open up plasticity after that. First time skydivers reach that incredible state after diving because of that mechanism. However, after some jumps (tens or hundreds) this becomes a habit and plasticity don't open up anymore following a jump.

So it's up to everyone to tailor this opportunity to their personal experience.