How Your Nervous System Works & Changes

Today’s episode provides an introduction to how the nervous system works to create sensations, perceptions, emotions, thoughts and behaviors, as well as how we can change our nervous system— a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity.

The information sets the stage for all Huberman Lab Podcast episodes that follow by covering neurons, synapses, brain chemicals and the rhythms that control our ability to focus, learn and sleep… and more.

Timestamps for the episode can be found below. Thank you for your interest in science. We'll see you next week.

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Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
5:00 What is the Nervous System
8:55 Deja Vu
10:50 How War, Guns & Soap Shaped Our Understanding of the Brain
13:30 Jennifer Aniston Neurons
14:30 Sensations
16:10 Magnetic Sensing & Mating
17:30 Perceptions & The Spotlight of Attention
18:30 Multi-Tasking Is Real
20:10 Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Control of Behavior
21:15 Focusing the Mind
21:55 Emotions + The Chemicals of Emotions
24:30 Antidepressants
27:40 Thoughts & Thought Control
28:35 Actions
33:20 How We Control Our Impulses
36:25 Neuroplasticity: The Holy Grail of Neuroscience
41:20 The Portal to Neuroplasticity
46:40 Accelerating Learning in Sleep
50:20 The Pillar of Plasticity
55:00 Leveraging Ultradian Cycles & Self Experimentation

#HubermanLab #Neuroscience

The Huberman Lab podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

[NeuromodulatorNetwork]

I'm really glad to see that you've launched your own channel. As a neuroscientist currently acting as a scientific editor/consultant for multiple companies around the world, I'm about to do the same but have continued to feel like I don't have enough time given my work obligations. You're a testament that it can be done, even when heading your own lab at Stanford. Incredible. Kudos. I've enjoyed your neuroscience-based conversations on various podcasts, including a piece in which you discussed work from Misha Ahren's lab on glial suppression of unsuccessful behavior; Misha did his postdoc in the same lab (Engert Lab) where I did mine at Harvard. Looking forward to your future podcasts! Cheers.

[LC-jqvn]

This man made me want to start college for neuroscience. I have kept a 4.0 the last 2 years. I was expelled 5 times in hs. Yes 5 times :/. ( from alternative school once, so twice in 11th grade). It was safe to say I hated school and was completely wild. I would have never gave school another shot if it wasn’t for him, but listening to him made realize that I actually love to learn. This guy changed my life and not only that but my family’s. We are thankful to say the least. Andrew is on my top 5 people to meet! I’ll never miss one of these podcast. Thank you Andrew.

[ahmedosama]

00:00 The nervous system and its parts list are discussed, providing insights into human experience and history.
05:42 The nervous system is a continuous loop of communication between brain, spinal cord, and body.
16:39 Attention is under our control and can be directed deliberately
21:37 Neuromodulators play a significant role in our emotional states
32:16 Neuroplasticity requires top-down processing and agitation.
37:02 Neuroplasticity is the ability for neural connections to change in response to experience.
47:47 Sleep and focus are crucial for neuroplasticity.
52:44 Mastering the 90-minute ultradian rhythms is crucial for controlling the nervous system
1:02:26 Upcoming episode airs next week
Crafted by Merlin AI.

[foxie]

I'm so glad to have learn English just for the fact that I can listen to this podcast! Thank you for your hard work, much appreciated and listened to 😁🙏 Have a nice day 👍😊

[mrdbourke]

1:24 “At the end you will have a whole semesters worth of learning about the nervous system and how you work..”

This is what the internet is about. Sharing knowledge on a global scale. I’m watching this from my lounge room in Brisbane, Australia. What a time to be alive!

Thank you Andrew & team for putting this together.

[PINOYLEVELUP]

We appreciate you Dr. Andrew Huberman!!!
0:00 Introduction
05:04 Nervous System (continuous communication between brain, spinal cord and organs of the body connection)
07:40 Neurons and Synapses
08:14 You’re a flow of electricity (hippocampus, memory, déjà vu)
11:00 Neurologists collection of data about brain regions (warfare, speech and language are separate portions of the nervous system, Jennifer Aniston cells)
5 THINGS NERVOUS SYSTEM DO
14:40 1. Sensation – non-negotiable element of your nervous system (sensory receptors of humans and animals; snakes, birds, turtles)
17:28 2. Perception- ability to take what we’re sensing and make sense of it and pay attention to it (multi-tasking is real, two attentional spotlights, you can control your attention when you’re well rested)
21:52 3. Feelings/Emotions (neuromodulators, dopamine, serotonin, antidepressants, anti psychotics)
27:39 4. Thoughts – draws what’s happening in the present, what we remembered in the past and what we anticipate in the future. They can be reflexive or deliberate)
28:33 5. Actions or behaviors – the ONLY THING that will create any fossil record of our existence. Just like thoughts it can either be reflexive or deliberate.
31:32 Your ability to change your Nervous System – bringing your perception to an analysis of three things DPO; Duration, Path, Outcome (reflexive system, deliberate system, alcohol, impulsivity, norepinephrine, adrenaline)
44:28 When we want to learn new language or a new skill or become more motivated
45:46 Sleep and Non-sleep deep rest
50:00 Transition between sleep and wakefulness and wakefulness and sleep (Sympathetic system – alertness system, Parasympathetic System- calmness system)
54:25 Waking States (ultradian rhythms)

[reetikashukla]

THE QUALITY ❤ Day 1 at Huberman Lab Podcast felt surreal.
Love from INDIA 🇮🇳

[lindamacgregor]

I've used a wobble board (balance board) for several years. I'm 71 - my eyesight, specifically my left eye, was deteriorating. Just to experiment, I started balancing with my eyes closed, then with my left eye open, then both eyes. I noticed that the images perceived from my left eye, were becoming clearer. This motivated me to continue. I've just renewed my driver's license and both of my eyes tested at 20/20. FYI, I've had a 'glasses' restriction on my license for all of my driving life up until now.There are many, many other benefits that I've reaped through using the balance board - on some level, it's like I've 'tuned up' my body via strengthening my core. Perhaps this might be something of interest for a further podcast, i.e. how 'body balance' affects all of our systems and how we can take advantage of tools to improve our balance.

[chandanbanakar]

Its still unreal, the quality of education I can access from a small town in India.

[adammenhennett]

As great as it was to watch you talk on Rogan, Lex Fridman, and Whitney Cummings' podcasts, it is so good to finally have you all to ourselves - no more interruptions, no matter how well intended!

Please keep this podcast going, you explain it all so clearly, it is a joy to learn from you.

[hibaabdi]

Thanks for such 1st class Podcasting Professor.Huberman, I NEED SUCH INSIGHT TO THIS TOPIC, AT THIS TIME OF MY LIFE, WHEN I AM SUFFERING OF VARIOUS NERVIOUS/ NERVE CONSTENT PAIN...!!

FOLLOWING " A BAS DENTIST'S ROUTINE PROCEDURE WENT WRONG DELIBERATELY...!", WHICH DAMAGED MOST OF MY NERVE CELLS, INCLUDING MY VAGUS NURVE TO SAY THE LEAST...!"

[Hollowsmith]

Hey Andrew, here's "10 Episodes I'd Love To See":

1- "the neuroscience of dreams" (what causes them, what function do they serve, what their content suggests about our psychology),

2- "the neuroscience of music" (why are we compelled to listen to it and create it, what is occurring neurologically when a musician is in flow state, why can some dementia patients remember song lyrics long after become otherwise non-verbal, etc).

3- "the neuroscience of depression" (how much is nature vs. nurture? what methods beyond pharma drugs can reverse it? what distinguishes situationally logical sadness from true depression?)

4- "the neuroscience of sociopathy/psychopathy" (how much is nature vs. nurture here too? what personality characteristics are key indicators that some might miss? can it be reverse or at least lessened? if so, how? how can power hierarchies such as companies guard against selecting for these traits? can these traits be detected with visual analysis or diagnostics within neuroscience?)

5- "the neuroscience of predictive diagnostics" (can modern neuroscience tools identify the interests and talents a child will thrive at as an adult? can they identify future criminals before they act? can early detection of personality characteristics more easily be reversed? do you fear predictive diagnostics in the hand of dystopian leadership in terms of social engineering?"

6- "the neuroscience of extraordinary abilities" (this would be an episode that focuses on "Rainman"-like autistic/savante capacities, as well as extraordinary medical cases, such as a person of normal abilities that after a brain injury became a math genius, etc. a deep dive into how both inborn and injury-induced neurochemical and neurostructural oddities have resulted in capacities that truly astound).

7- "the neuroscience of the paranormal" (this would examine plausible neurologic explanations for the most well documented near death experience cases, the type of complete ego death and mysterious "contact"-like phenomena of 5meo-DMT journeys, empirically plausible explanations for psychic abilities or premonitions, etc. an episode that explores the outer fringes where neurologic hypothesis reaches the threshold of the unknowable)

8- "the neuroscience of addiction" (what causes it, what ends it, how does one form of addiction differ from another, etc)

9- "the neuroscience of intelligence" (what is intelligence? is intelligence better thought of as one thing or living in many forms? if many, what are the foundational forms? how useful or problematic are IQ tests? what forms of intelligence do they measure well and measure poorly? what psychometric tests do you trust the most to get a read on someone's brainpower and genera neuroogic profile? can it be increased or decreased?)

10- "the neuroscience of nutrition" (what foods are helpful to brainpower? which ones diminish brainpower? how useful is fasting to spike mental performance? what nootropics supplements are worth taking? what to look for in a good nootropic stack? what recreational substances like alcohol, cannabis, etc are detrimental to brain function?)

[simontra]

1 Hour of pure gold on YouTube. I feel like we are blessed to get this for free. Incredible!

[ashicbopanna]

Grateful to have come accross your podcast thank you for the teaching 🙏😊

[MegaLadyv]

It’s extremely refreshing to listen to these science talks! YouTube has been bombarded with hype salesy pitches that it gets to point of one just wanting content without BS! Thanks Dr Huberman. I stumbled across you and now I’m glued lol I go through your videos and learn something new all the time. I’m going through a painful process of self transformation(understanding past trauma although attempting to not let it stagnate me) and having scientific knowledge places so much into context. I wish more scientists could share more. Almost went into neurology but math whipped me 😅I’ll leave it to the pros like yourself haha. Thanks for sharing! Keep it up!

[doloress]

"The way to think about your body, and your thoughts and your mind, is that you are a flow of electricity between nerve cells." You have my undivided attention in the first ten minutes. I'm as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning for the gift of learning! Thank you Professor Huberman, just thank you.

[DieterNews]

I can't wait for more scientists like yourself to take advantage of social media like this. You'll reach so many on here Andrew!! Such a kind warm soul filled with evident wisdom. Cannot wait to drown in all of this information for the next hour!! :D

[kanethomas]

Putting it all together (main points of function of the nervous system - We change what we sense by changing our environment and the things we allow to enter our environment and where we elect to go. Then we use our attention and control of perception to perceive the aspects of what will allow us to move towards our desired way of living. Having control of neural modulators allows us to have certain control of the feelings/emotions that we feel and therefore the access to certain highly active or diminished neurons due to the effect of neural modulators in the process of activity. We can also control our thoughts in a very deliberate way through auto-suggestion as well as have reflexive thoughts based on the present, past and predictable future. Action is then the by-product of all of these other functions of the nervous system that is actually able to make an imprint on this Earth. So the question is: How do we ensure that our nervous system is functioning optimally in the first 4 functions in order to create the action that we want to be able to take to achieve our dreams and aspirations?

[thegymmonk]

As an Art & Literature student, I appreciate the chance to access science-based knowledge at zero cost. Thank you, Huberman, for being one of the best educators. Massive respect for your enlightening guidance. 🇧🇩

[winbalingit]

Andrew Huberman is a neuroscience rock star!!!🤩Best New Year’s gift ever!!!🍾🎉🎆💃🏽 Happy dance!!🤣🤣🤣👍🏽