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.

Time Perception & Entrainment by Dopamine, Serotonin & Hormones | Episode 46

November 15, 2021 1:14:16 0.0 MB Downloads: 0

In this episode, I discuss how our brain and body track time and the role that neurochemicals, in particular dopamine and serotonin, but also hormones such as melatonin, allow us to orient ourselves in time. I review the three types of time perception: of the past, of the present, and the future, and how dopamine and serotonin adjust both our perception of the speed of the passage of time and our memory of how long previous experiences lasted. I also discuss circannual entrainment, which is the process by which our brain and body are matched to the seasons, and circadian (24 hours) entrainment, both of which subconsciously adjust our perceived measurement of time. I explain the mechanisms of that subconscious control. And I cover the ultradian (90 minutes) rhythms that govern our ability to focus, including how to track when these 90-minute rhythms begin and end for the sake of work and productivity. I include ten tools based on the science of time perception that you can apply to enhance productivity, creativity, and relationships in various contexts. 

 

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Timestamps:

  • 00:00:00 Introducing Time Perception, Note on Fasting & Supplements
  • 00:05:12 Sponsors: ROKA, Athletic Greens, InsideTracker
  • 00:09:25 Entrainment, Circannual Entrainment, Melatonin
  • 00:13:20 Seasonal Oscillations in Testosterone & Estrogen, Tool 1
  • 00:16:06 Circadian Timing, Tools 1, 2, 3 (for Circadian Entrainment)
  • 00:21:13 Tool 4: Timing Physical Activity; Tool 5: Timing Eating Window
  • 00:23:00 When Circadian Entrainment is Disrupted, Time Perception Suffers
  • 00:25:00 Tool 6: Ultradian (90min) Cycles & Focus
  • 00:31:42 Our Sense of the Passage of Time: Present, Prospective, Retrospective
  • 00:34:40 Dopamine (& Nor/epinephrine) Lead to Time Overestimation; Frame Rate 
  • 00:37:18 Serotonin & Time Underestimation; Decreased Frame Rate
  • 00:39:10 Dopamine vs. Serotonin Across the Day; Tool 7: When to Do Rigid vs. Creative Work
  • 00:42:38 Example of Tool 7
  • 00:43:38 How Sleep Deprivation Degrades Performance
  • 00:44:38 Trauma, “Over-clocking” & Memories; Adjusting Rates of Experience
  • 00:50:04 Why Trauma Involves Dopamine & Epinephrine, Arousal
  • 00:51:03 Dopamine, Spontaneous Blinking & Time Perception; Tool 8
  • 00:53:38 Deliberate Cold Exposure, Dopamine, Tool 9: Adjusting Frame Rate in Discomfort
  • 00:56:30 Fun “Feels Fast” BUT Is Remembered as Slow; Boring Stuff “Feels Slow,” Recall As Fast
  • 01:00:54 Retrospective Time, Context Variation & Enhanced Bonding with Places & People
  • 01:03:00 Dopamine Release Resets the Start of Each Time Bin on Our Experience
  • 01:07:40 Habits & Time Perception; Tool 10 (Setting Functional Units of Each Day)
  • 01:11:58 Synthesis & Book Suggestion (Your Brain Is a Time Machine by D. Buonomano)
  • 01:12:27 Supporting the HLP: Subscribe, Instagram, Patreon, Thorne Supplements

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.

 

Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com