Using Play to Rewire & Improve Your Brain

In this episode, I discuss the transformative nature of play—how it changes our feelings, thoughts and actions and indeed, how it can rewire our brain to function better in all contexts. I explain the role of play in childhood, as well as adulthood in skill and social development and describe key characteristics of the mind and body during play. Additionally, I explore how play allows the brain to test contingencies in different roles/environments. Throughout, I discuss the underlying neurobiology of play. I also describe how low-stakes play, and tinkering can broaden and shape your future capabilities. Finally, I discuss how our childhood ‘personal play identity’ informs our adult personality. Throughout the episode, I use the science of play to outline recommendations for using play as a means to enhance neuroplasticity and explore novel situations, regardless of age.

#HubermanLab #Neuroscience #Play

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Timestamps
00:00:00 The Power of Play
00:02:23 Tool: Reading on Smart Phones, Sighing & Learning
00:09:14 AG1 (Athletic Greens), Roka, Helix Sleep
00:13:57 Homeostatic Regulation of Play
00:23:53 Childhood Play & Mindsets
00:29:21 Contingency Testing
00:32:17 The (Power of) Playful Mindset
00:36:13 Body Postures
00:44:03 Rule Testing & Breaking
00:48:24 Role Play
00:50:39 Neurobiology of Low-stakes Play
00:54:22 Expanding Capabilities through Tinkering
01:00:03 Play Is THE Portal to Neuroplasticity
01:04:44 Adulthood Play
01:10:14 Fire Together, Wire Together
01:18:03 Trauma & Play Deficits & Recovery
01:23:25 Competition & Dynamic Movement
01:27:36 Chess, Mental Roles, Novelty
01:32:52 Personal Play Identity
01:37:24 Play Transforms Your Future Self
01:40:55 Recommendations for Play
01:44:25 Zero-Cost Support, Spotify/Apple Reviews, YouTube, Sponsors, Patreon, Instagram, Twitter, Thorne

Please note that The Huberman Lab Podcast is distinct from Dr. Huberman's teaching and research roles at Stanford University School of Medicine. The information provided in this show is not medical advice, nor should it be taken or applied as a replacement for medical advice. The Huberman Lab Podcast, its employees, guests and affiliates assume no liability for the application of the information discussed.

[Itadakiman]

I like to think under the table Dr. Huberman is resting his feet on a skateboard slightly rolling it left and right

[memastarful]

I worked over 17 years in pediatrics as a nurse. Being around children and babies is so good for the soul. It helps keep the heart innocent and pure. Love the playfulness of children and some animals.

[microfx]

Dear Mr Huberman, you are the hero the world needs. Please be the world president.

[gazels]

Picaso once said, "The first half of life is learning to be an adult - the second half is learning to be a child."

Great lecture as always. Much thanks.

[aaronboyum]

I sincerly appreciate all of the time and effort you put into these Podcasts. I've been a Physical Therapist for 22 years, and I frequently reference your Podcasts to my clients and colleagues. Education regarding the neurobiology and research behind the "actionable" is transformative. Keep up the great work.

[mfundodlamini]

I cant believe I have been listening to this pod passively for close to an hour and it just feels like 10 doing what you do sir.

[Phrinkle]

Thank you for the highest quality, concise and useful series of lectures I have ever experienced.

[MosesRabuka]

“The playing adult steps sideward into another reality, the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery” ~ Erik H. Erikson

[iloveyellow]

Hey Mr. Huberman, I dont know if youre gonna be able to see & read this but thank you.

I found you in 2019, a year after my traumatic brain injury accident.

By sharing your expertise I was able to fully recover and get over my anxiety. I may have a palm sized hole in my head but thanks to you, I know I will have a great life just like before I had my accident.

Thank you for sharing your expertise and sharing it with us and of course for helping me discover the wonderful world of my brain.

I cant thank you enough, but thank you so much Mr. Huberman 🙋🏻‍♀

I have fully recovered now. Which makes not only my parents happy, but also my surgeons, and neuro doctors happy.

Thank you 😘

[denisemoharsky]

As a pediatric occupational therapist, I can't tell you how much excitement and joy this episode has brought me! Andrew, PLEASE do an episode on Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder, and more episodes on neurologic impairments. The OT community NEEDS this! Parents need it, schools need it ! Thank you for what you do!🙏

[selfretired]

Ah HA! That's why! When people at work kept inquiring why I sighed so much, I simply advised it was part of my normal breathing pattern. I didn't realize it was my body releasing stress, keeping me sane and focused. Noted observation!

[Munimuninibrittney]

Earlier, I was waiting for today's video to be posted, and as I am now watching it, i thought suddenly that i have come to take it for granted that every Monday there will be a podcast posted by Dr. Huberman about a certain topic and I would learn something from it. I am just acknowledging that since January 2021, Dr. Huberman have never missed a Monday. I know this podcast is not easy to make but come what may, every Monday, there is a new podcast! I thank you Dr. Huberman for your dedication in sharing with us your interest in science.

[tonysaenz]

Dr. Huberman, I’ve been recommending your podcast to dozens of people… it’s hard to not bring up your podcast in everyday conversations, especially when I’m driving for Uber! I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for making the world a better place. My recommendations for guests are:
- Jim Kwik (memory)
- Dr. Casey Means (insulin resistance)

[landonmorrison]

YES!! affective neuroscience!! the primary-process emotion of PLAY has untold benefits. I'm a yoga therapist in training, and I have to thank Huberman for producing content that has so much value for the soon-to-be-booming field of affect balance therapy. Talk therapy has limitations, but our ability to re-balance the emotions that are generated in subcortical and limbic structures through movement, social connection, and activation of the SEEKING and PLAY circuits (capitalized ala Affective Neuroscience Godfather Dr. Jaak Panksepp) allow us a bottom-up treatment for PTSD, depression, anxiety, and addictive disorders of all kinds. Awesome, more affective neuroscience please!!

[rositsazlatanova]

I'm yet to rediscover the child in me abandoned a long time ago because I was brought up to believe other people's needs are more important. I keep 2 framed pictures of myself where I'm about 2 and 5 years old. I want to find that lively, smiling, little girl I was once. Thank you, Dr Huberman, I'm looking forward to watching the video. 🍀

[ZRun]

I'm so happy that play is finally getting it's due respect! So many great thinkers, artists, and even spiritual leaders have pushed this idea throughout the ages. It is such a great way to interact with life and to fully enjoy existence. I have personally found that play has always had a profound impact on my relationships, work, and growth in every facet of my life even since childhood. Much love for this episode Andrew & I hope everyone implements more play in their daily lives! 🤘

[spots]

I'm a professional dog trainer and using play as a reward for obediance makes all the difference for motivation, impulse control, rules to be established and cooperation. This all leads to a very different relationship, this podcast was amazing and love using your knowledge to people myself and my dog training.

[TalkingBrains]

Very interesting talk! "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing" George Bernard Shaw

[juanpabloaranovich]

Just sharing my notes. I posted this on Medium as well for your convenience (easier to read)

Some TLDR:
• The power of play resides in plays ability to change our nervous system for the better.
• Play functions as a way to explore new ways of being.
• Allows more creative thinking.
• Learning to play enhances focus, and it's good for ADHD. Children who don't play enough are more likely to develop ADHD.

Homeostatic regulation of play
• Play is homeostatically regulated. If we are restricted from playing, we are going to play more when we are given the opportunity.
• Periaqueductal gray: rich with neurons that make endogenous (self-made) opioids. Play evokes small amount of opioids release. That chemical state allows other areas of the brain (prefrontal cortex) to get smarter. The prefrontal cortex starts seeing and exploring many more possibilities of how we interact with our environment, with others, and with the roles we can assume with ourselves. It expands the number of operations that the prefrontal cortex can run. Playing makes the prefrontal cortex more plastic.

Childhood play
• ALL YOUNG ANIMALS have more playfulness.
• What's the purpose of play?
• Play is not just about games.
• How we play is how we test and expand our potential roles in all kinds of interactions.
• The baby brain: when babies are in discomfort, someone (the caretaker) comes with a solution.
• As babies grow, they can get things for themselves, but when they do they think those things belong to them… Poem: the toddlers creed. It's a reflection of how a healthy toddler would think about the world. The things in the world are their possession.
• Next stage: children start interacting with other children. They learn that everything in the world is not theirs. They go from being self-centered to thinks like sharing and cooperation.


Tool: playful mindset.
• Putting yourself in scenarios where you might not be the top performer…
• PLAY for the sake of playing. It makes the prefrontal cortex more plastic.
• Play allows to explore different outcomes. Play is contingency testing. When we play with other people we learn all sort of things about them (and about ourselves, if we pay attention).

Play postures
• When humans want to play they do a head tilt to the side. We open the eyelids (“soft eyes”) and purse the lips. These are reflexive.
• Partial postures: when we approach to play in a friendly way. We tend to “shrink”. This happens with low stake games. Doesn’t happen in sports.
• Eyes open and tongue out: primate species do this when they are definitely here to play.

Role play
• When you role play, the prefrontal cortex has to expand its operations in order to make predictions.
• Imaginary friends are a way to engage in cooperative play, and also play the role of a leader.

Neurobiology of play.
• Play is about testing and experimenting and expanding the brain capacity.
• Periaqueductal gray (PAG): the release of opioids relax us.
• For something to be playful and have the positive effect we have to have low amounts of adrenaline.
• If you are very concerned about the outcome of the game, that’s not going to engage the play circuit. It would not constitute a low stake game. When you take it so seriously it is a high adrenaline and dopamine state.
• The state of playfulness is what allows you to perform best because it allows to explore new paths and flexible thinking.

Playing is key to neuroplasticity.
• Expanding into new ways of playing is also important.
• Playing returns us to the states of early development (when we were children).
• Play is the way in which we are able to test how we function in real world context.
• Play is a unique form of “focus-rest”, which is the way in which neuroplasticity works.
• From 0 to 25yrs old we learn passively because the neurons are much more over-connected that they will be later in life. 40% of these connections are removed by 25. Much of our learning during development is about the removal of incorrect connections, and also about strengthening connections that are good (Fire together-wire together).
• Children that have been subjected to trauma have a hard time engaging to play and neuroplasticity. High levels of adrenaline (generated during stress and trauma) locks the circuits that generates play behavior. However, this is something that can be re-learned and changed thru games and playing!
• From about 25yrs old we learn by “focus-rest”.
• Animals that engage in playful behaviors for the longest time are the ones that the greatest degree of neuroplasticity.
• Adults that maintain a playful stance allows ongoing plasticity.

Competitive play
• You can be competitive as long as you are enjoying yourself.

Forms of play that enhance neuroplasticity:
1. Novels forms of movement (including new speeds and new forms).
2. Non athletic forms: chess.
a. In a single game of chess you have to assume multiple identities.

Personal Play Identity
• Identity that you assume in playful and non-playful scenarios.
• 4 dimensions:
1. How you play
2. Personality
3. Socio culture and environment
4. Economics and technology

Play transforms your future-self.
• We don't just have a childhood and an adulthood. Development happens thru our entire lifespan.
• Playing is the portal by which we can change ourselves for the better.

Recommendations:
1- Engage in at least one hour of play per week.
2- It should be novel (something that you are not very good at).
3- If it is something you already are good at, try to incorporate new ways of doing it (running faster, backwards, sideways).
4- Book: play it away - Charlie Hoehn.

Twitter @Juampiaranovich you can find the article

[AleksandarIvanov]

When something around play is damaged, you live a miserable life.
Exhibit A...
I am currently in therapy for that constant misery and it turns out I always connect playful situations with negative emotions like feeling embarrassed, hurt etc.
I hope this podcast gives me some useful insight.