The Huberman Lab Podcast discusses neuroscience: how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured Professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. His laboratory studies neural regeneration, neuroplasticity, and brain states such as stress, focus, fear, and optimal performance. For more than 20 years, Dr. Huberman has consistently published original research findings and review articles in top-level peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, Cell, Neuron, and Current Biology. He is a regular member of several National Institutes of Health review panels and a Fellow of the McKnight Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Dr. Huberman regularly consults for technology development companies, professional athletic organizations, and various units of U.S. and Canadian Special Operations.
Dr. Robert Malenka: How Your Brain’s Reward Circuits Drive Your Choices
In this episode, my guest is Robert Malenka, MD, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine who has made numerous seminal discoveries of how the brain changes (neuroplasticity) in response to learning and in response to rewarding and reinforcing experiences. We discuss the brain’s several reward systems involving dopamine and serotonin and how these motivate us to seek out specific behaviors and substances. We discuss how these reward systems are modified based on context and our memories, and how they can be hijacked toward maladaptive drug seeking in addiction. We also explore how reward systems influence social connections, oxytocin and empathy and how that applies to our understanding of autism spectrum disorders. This episode should be of interest to those interested in neuroplasticity, social bonding, addiction, autism learning and motivation.
For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.
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Timestamps
(00:00:00) Dr. Robert Malenka
(00:02:37) Sponsors: ROKA & Levels
(00:05:21) Dopamine & Reward Circuitry
(00:11:31) Reward, Arousal, Memory & Dopamine
(00:17:34) Context, Cues & Dopamine Modification
(00:25:38) Memory & Reward Scaling
(00:30:50) Dopamine, “Addictive Liability” & Route of Administration
(00:39:07) Sponsor: AG1
(00:40:04) Drugs of Abuse & Brain Changes; Addiction & Individual Variability
(00:50:51) Reinforcement vs. Reward, Wanting vs. Liking
(00:57:500 Opioids, Psychostimulants & Dopamine
(01:03:38) Sponsor: LMNT
(01:04:51) Self-Doubt, Confidence & Career
(01:12:40) Autism Spectrum Disorder
(01:19:29) Pro-Social Interaction & Reward; Oxytocin, Serotonin & Dopamine
(01:30:30) Nucleus Accumbens & Behavior Probability
(01:38:28) Reward for Pro-Social Behavior
(01:43:13) Social Media & “Addictive Liability”; Gambling
(01:52:17) Pain, Social Behavior & Empathy
(02:02:19) Empathy Circuitry, Dopamine & Serotonin
(02:10:07) Autism Spectrum Disorder & Social Interactions, Empathy
(02:17:23) MDMA, Serotonin & Dopamine; Addiction & Pro-Social Effects
(02:28:13) Autism Spectrum Disorder, Social Behavior, MDMA & Pharmacology
(02:37:18) Serotonin, MDMA & Psychedelics
(02:40:16) Psychedelics: Research & Therapeutic Potential
(02:47:57) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter
Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac