Neuro Athletes, 

Good evening! I usually send out my emails during the work day but for this one I really wanted you to read it while sipping on a warm beverage at home. It’s time to kick your feet up and get ready for a wonderful email that details the story of a 44 year old portfolio manager with a 62 year old brain. 

Btw...if you were forwarded this newsletter, or you’re not a current subscriber, please take 3.2 seconds to click here and subscribe. Every week, I go deep into something that you can use and implement into your routine to gain better performance.

But first, did you listen to my recent podcast episode? The podcast is much like this newsletter but you get to hear my Australian accent. This week Dr. Ralph Espasito and I sat down and discussed the science of stress and recovery. Here are two takeaways I learnt that I want you to know:

Lesson 1: 

Allostatic Load: This is when you push the limits of stress. It pretty much refers to the cumulative burden of chronic stress and life events. It involves the interaction of different physiological systems at varying degrees of activity. When environmental challenges exceed the individual ability to cope, then allostatic overload ensues.

If you can pick up on the stressors in your life and respond to them appropriately then you wont push the limits to the point where disease and dysfunction occurs.

Lesson 2: 

Data allows for an educated decision: We are fortunate enough to live in a world where we can use data to assess what is biologically or chemically going wrong. We can measure mitochondrial dysfunction, we can look at your sleep patterns and see if you are recovering with your sleep, can we assess these things and measure them so we can optimise for them.

If you have the means, invest in data. Start with an Oura ring and work your way up from there. Your body will thank you.

If you want to listen to the full episode, you can do so here.

Also, today’s wonderful email is brought to you by:

Okay I’m done with the promotional stuff, let’s get into the email. 

Over the last few months, a big focus for us at Neuro Athletics has been working towards perfecting the Neuro Athletic method, our bespoke four month 1:1 coaching program that we take our high performers through. This email is going to cover what happens to your performance when you let minor hiccups in your routine slide and what we can do to get back on track.

Jean Pierre (JP) is a 42 year old portfolio manager with 50M in assets. He came to me a little over a year ago with a problem of ‘decline in performance’. In his words: 

JP did everything before he came to see me. He assessed his performance, he spoke with his partners and team, he even reevaluated his strategy. Things weren’t going well and he had the stress of declined returns over the last 3 years.

I did the initial work up and started with an qEEG (Quantitative Electroencephalography) of his brain. In this scan I cover over 16 biomarkers of cognitive performance. I am going to detail two key features that are relevant to his performance downturn.

[DISCLAIMER: JP gave full written permission and consent to showcase this as a case study]. 

His scan showed:

1. Slow REACTION TIME (the time between a stimulus and a response).

2. Slow BRAIN PROCESSING SPEED (our ability to manage and absorb, within a reasonable amount of time, information that we are presented with).

After seeing this I was troubled with the question of why this was happening. He wasn’t an NFL player so he never had a concussion, he wasn’t abusing drugs and certainly wasn’t abusing alcohol to the point of extreme age acceleration, so what was it?

After careful observation the one conclusion was: sleep deprivation. 

The accumulation of sleep deprivation over time has lead to increases in inflammation and decreases in the amount of toxins that are cleaned out through the night to help you wake up feeling refreshed and energised. In fact, prolonged wakefulness can be due to acute total sleep deprivation (SD) or to chronic partial sleep restriction. Both total and partial SD induce adverse changes in cognitive performance. First and foremost, total SD impairs attention and working memory, but it also affects other functions, such as long-term memory and decision-making. Partial SD is found to influence attention, especially vigilance. Studies on its effects on more demanding cognitive functions are lacking.

There were numerous accounts for why this occurred but for the purpose of this email I want to talk to you about what happens over time when you miss a few hours of sleep here and there.

You’re all familiar with the term ‘compound interest’ when interest gets added to the principal amount invested or borrowed, and then the interest rate applies to the new (larger) principal. It is the same as if you were to have one glass of wine, the alcohol content in there probably won’t do any harm to you. However, if you repeat this process and have several glasses of wine 3-4 times a week over the course of 10 years, the negative effects of that wine will compound. 

In JP’s case, he was compounding on lack of sleep. On average he was getting 6 hours of sleep per night (some nights were 4 hours) over the course of 15 years. YIKES!

Let’s detail the relationship between sleep debt and one of the biomarkers listed above:

Reaction time: Reaction times increase as a person accumulates sleep debt. This means that the more sleep a person loses, the longer it takes for them to react to a stimulus. In one study, research subjects were allowed to sleep for five hours per night for a week. Over the course of the week, participants’ reaction times steadily increased as they accumulated sleep debt and felt increasingly sleepy.

In the case of JP, his thinking was diminishing and over time his reaction time was getting slower and slower. When we’re underslept, our body is experiencing a need for sleep, a need to stay awake, and a need to perform tasks. These competing drives interfere with our attention from moment to moment, leading to cognitive impairment and an increased reaction time.

Another important factor to note when it comes to sleep deprivation is the elevation of inflammation. There are three inflammatory markers associated with sleep deprivation:

1. Fibrinogen

2. IL-6

3. C-reactive protein (CRP)

In JP’s case, he was not only having problems with his thinking but he was also experiencing anger, frustration and morning brain fog. Sleep deprivation over the course of just one week can raise the amount of inflammation your brain. When something triggers inflammation in the brain, the glia cells switch into attack mode. This hinders communication between neurons so they fire more slowly, creating symptoms such as brain fog, slower mental speed, slower recall, and slower reflexes.

Brain inflammation also shuts down energy production in the neurons, so brain endurance drops, making it harder to read, work, or concentrate for any length of time.

So by now I’m sure you can understand why he was seeing a downturn in his performance which was costing him millions!

How we made a turn around:

We all know that I am not going to outpour my entire model to you but I do want to show you two processes we took to help with sleep optimisation. Along with building a successful routine, it is also imp

Two really simple things that can change you and your performance if you learn the art of consistency. 

1. Manipulation of light:

The light/dark cycle of the sun has a powerful effect on the circadian clock, sleep, and alertness. If you understand these effects, you can manipulate light exposure to help yourself sleep better at night and be more alert during the day. Keep in mind your circadian clock uses light and dark signals to predict what to do in the future: when to prepare you to be active and when to prepare you to sleep.

JP got into the habit of sleeping at 1am and waking up between 5am and 6:30am and this is something we changed immediately. It was hard at the start as his normal

The circadian clock is most sensitive to light from about 2 hours before usual bedtime and through the night, until about 1 hour after usual wake-up in the morning (this is the sensitive period). Exposure to light during these times will affect when your body naturally gets sleepy and is ready to fall asleep.

Bright evening light 2 hours before bedtime will shift the time for sleep later, so you will tend to get sleepy and fall asleep later in the evening and will wake up later in the morning.

• If you have trouble falling asleep, keep the light levels dim for the 2 hours before you want to go to sleep. You can wear dark sunglasses (wraparound ones work best) if it is hard to control the light in the area. That should help you fall asleep more easily.

• If you are getting sleepy too early in the evening, you can go into a well-lit area to reduce the sleepiness. (However, if you are sleep deprived or fighting an infection, go to sleep early and catch up on needed sleep.)

Bright morning light will shift the time for sleep earlier, so you will tend to get sleepy and fall asleep earlier in the evening and will wake up earlier in the morning.

• If you are waking up too early and cannot fall back to sleep, make sure you keep the lights very dim until the time you want to wake up.

• If you cannot wake up early enough, go into a brightly lit area when you get up (for example, eat your breakfast outside or next to a sunny window).

If you have to get up in the middle of the night, keep light level very dim.

I really enjoyed this tweet by Patrick Samy from Span Health. He detailed the result of getting natural sunlight exposure in the early morning. “Highest lever I've found so far to reduce sleep latency and increase deep sleep”.

1. Manipulation of Hydration

Can you imagine me telling a 42 year old PM to drink more water and to hydrate with electrolytes? 😂 It’s funny because the most simplest gift of nature have been turned upside and forgotten by the general public. Indeed, I put JP on a strict hydration protocol.

Why?

Hydration is a big one for cognitive function and it's one that people often overlook. Drinking enough water each day is crucial for many reasons: to regulate body temperature, keep joints lubricated, prevent infections, deliver nutrients to cells, and keep organs functioning properly. Being well-hydrated also improves sleep quality, cognition, and mood.

You need sodium, magnesium and potassium to function and for your nerve cells to work and if you over drink water and don't consume enough electrolytes.

At Neuro Athletics we use a simple hydration rule that you can find here.

The equation basically is your body weight in pounds divided by 30. This will give you the number of ounces of water that you should drink about every 20 minutes. When exercising, or doing mental work.

Wow, so much JP talk. If you want more detailed overviews of the Neuro Athletics method you can become a premium member here.

On to some fun stuff...

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