Andrew Huberman

I’m excited to share some big news.

I've been working on a book for quite some time — more than five years, in fact — though it's really based on more than three decades of research and experience. Today, I am thrilled to share that my new and first-ever book, Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body, is now available for pre-order.

I hear from you daily about your desire for the tools and protocols covered on Huberman Lab and elsewhere to be organized and distilled all in one place, in a clear and concise manner. This book is the culmination of years of research, hundreds of conversations with leading scientists, medical doctors, and researchers, and my own exploration of health and fitness.

My aim with Protocols is to provide you with simple, powerful, and evidence-based solutions to your most common health challenges and to reach your goals. Designed to improve your mental health, physical health, and performance, these guidelines are customizable, allowing you to adapt them to your specific needs and to deliver effective results for men and women, young and old. It is truly meant for anyone interested in achieving better health and vitality.

I’m super excited to share Protocols with you. Thank you for your support and thank you for your interest in science!

Pre-order: https://protocolsbook.com

A 10-20 min nap or non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) have both been shown to replenish physical energy and increase cognitive function. NSDR, however, also increases striatal dopamine and improves one’s self-directed relaxation ability, which in turn improves sleep.

The Huberman Lab podcast is zero-cost and will continue to be zero-cost. We release episodes every Monday and from time to time, and we also release special guest series on Wednesdays. For instance, we did an expert guest series on all aspects of fitness with Dr. Andy Galpin and a four-episode guest series with Dr. Paul Conti on mental health.

In addition, we have a premium subscription — Huberman Lab Premium — which consists of “Ask Me Anything’s (AMAs).“ We release those monthly, and they are available to anyone for the first 15 or 20 minutes at no cost. However, you need to be a premium member to get the full AMA sessions.

Revenue from Huberman Lab Premium, along with a dollar-for-dollar match from the Tiny Foundation, helps to support scientific research in various laboratories. In this video, I explain some of the research and laboratories that we’ve already supported, including work at Stanford University, Stanford University School of Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies on topics such as mindset, nutrition, stress management, eating disorders, and stem cells. We only support research on human subjects (not animal models).

The goal of this effort is to accelerate the progress of exciting research that stands to improve human mental and physical health and performance.

Next year, we will be expanding the amount of support we give and the number of projects and laboratories we support.

Meanwhile, I want to thank all Huberman Lab listeners. Whether you subscribe to Huberman Lab Premium or not, you are all helping to support exciting and important research. It’s an honor to collaborate with you!

Read our Annual Letter 2023: https://lnkd.in/gpwR_mfp

The most dangerous thought in life is “if only.” Nothing that follows those words comes true. Embrace reality. Think. Pick a course of action and execute. The amount of time and energy people waste wishing things and others were different instead of leaning into their agency is sad.

It takes some work to recognize the fork in the road this represents, but we get numerous chances to do this all the time. It’s a practice to pivot into agency. Pretty soon, it becomes reflexive.

Here are the 10 most popular Huberman Lab episodes of 2024:

1. David Goggins: How to Build Immense Inner Strength
2. Robert Greene: A Process for Finding & Achieving Your Unique Purpose
3. Dr. Robert Lustig: How Sugar & Processed Foods Impact Your Health
4. Dr. Andy Galpin: How to Build Strength, Muscle Size & Endurance
5. Dr. Adam Grant: How to Unlock Your Potential, Motivation & Unique
6. Dr. James Hollis: How to Find Your True Purpose & Create Your Best Life
7. Controlling Your Dopamine For Motivation, Focus & Satisfaction
8. Dr. Becky Kennedy: Protocols for Excellent Parenting & Improving Relationships
9. Dr. Layne Norton: The Science of Eating for Health, Fat Loss & Lean Muscle
10. Dr. Cal Newport: How to Enhance Focus and Improve Productivity

If you wake up in the middle of the night and you’re more alert than you want to be because you want to fall back asleep, try some long exhales through your mouth. This slows your heart rate. It’s a hardwired circuit that works the first time and every time.

Long, deliberate exhales slow your heart rate via a specific circuit from a known brainstem nucleus through your vagus nerve. We can thank the amazing Jack Feldman from UCLA for much of our understanding of the brain circuits that control breathing and heart rate.

In a recent class I taught at Stanford University, we read and applied data-supported tools on how to learn/neuroplasticity. Among the most effective tools: periodically thinking back on material in a structured way and figuring out where your gaps in knowledge remain, reread and repeat. It outperforms note taking. (But also take notes.)

The best structure is to try and make it linear. That is, try not to let your mind skip around between different components of the learning material. That process can come later. The first step is to get mastery over the concepts in a start to finish way. For the type of material that requires problem sets, obviously you’ll need to do the problem sets.

And yes, I know it’s summer. Summer = summer reading and learning. Get it!

On the latest Huberman Lab episode, Tony Hawk and I discuss success in skateboarding (and life) and that it isn't always about being a 'natural.' It's about relentless drive, discipline, and the will to rise whenever you fall. Natural talent counts, but showing up, striving, and pushing through the friction — that's what makes the real difference.

Tim Ferriss ends each year with a practice called a PYR, or Past Year Review. I’ll make sure to do my own Past Year Review in the next few days.

As a scientist and educator, I've always believed that the best scientific and health information should be accessible to everyone—not just English speakers. That's why I'm excited to share that we're working with ElevenLabs to begin exploring dubbing of Huberman Lab content, starting with Hindi and Spanish.

While I only speak English (and very questionable Spanish), these localized versions will maintain my natural speaking style and voice characteristics, making the content feel authentic and personal.

While we're in the very early stages, this is an important first step toward our goal of reaching people in their native languages. You can explore some of our initial localized content here: https://lnkd.in/gRYk9aqt

We're committed to expanding to more languages over time, and I'd love to hear your feedback as we work to make science more accessible to all. If you speak Hindi or Spanish, I'd especially appreciate your thoughts. Does it maintain the clarity of the scientific concepts? Your insights will be invaluable as we refine this technology and consider expanding to other languages. Even if you don't speak these languages, I welcome your thoughts on how we can make this initiative even more impactful.

A new Huberman Lab episode is out now on science-based mental training and visualization for improved learning.

On the new episode of the Huberman Lab podcast, I explore the science of mental visualization and its application for enhancing the learning of motor and/or cognitive skills.

I discuss neuroplasticity-based skill development and the roles of focus, sleep, movement restriction, and agitation.

I then present 5 key principles of effective mental visualization gleaned from the quality peer-reviewed scientific literature that can enhance learning speed, accuracy, and consistency.

I also provide examples of specific mental training and visualization protocols, including repetitions, rest periods, and session frequency, and how to adapt these methods for injuries or breaks from traditional training.

Throughout, I reference the scientific studies supporting these concepts (linked in show note captions and at hubermanlab.com).

This episode ought to allow anyone to learn or teach more effectively through the use of mental visualization and training. You’ll also learn a lot of basic science from some amazing experiments, including some that you can do while listening to the episode.

Happy 4th of July! Celebrate your independence but realize that none of us are independent from the impact of our circadian biology. So be sure to get some sunlight in your eyes as early in the day as possible to maintain/set circadian entrainment to the day-night cycle.

A new Huberman Lab episode is out now on science-based tools to set and achieve your goals.

My guest on the Huberman Lab podcast this week is Susanna Søberg, PhD, a world expert on the science of deliberate cold exposure, and deliberate heat exposure and how they impact metabolism, blood glucose, neurotransmitters such as dopamine and more.

Here we discuss the commonly asked questions related to different types of deliberate cold exposure, and how they impact us.

The episode covers the science and practical details for anyone interested in deliberate cold or heat protocols, and how to customize those to your specific health and performance goals. https://lnkd.in/g6mn8w5x

Thank you to everyone who tuned in during 2024! #SpotifyWrapped

Bright light exposure—ideally from morning sunlight—amplifies your natural (and healthy) a.m. cortisol rise. You want that early in the day. If you fail to get it, you’ll likely shift your cortisol peak later or experience a second one in the p.m., which isn’t good for sleep or overall health.

It doesn’t have to be at sunrise—think sun rising—and ideally, you face the sun (blink as needed). But ambient sunlight is still better than bright indoor lights early in the day. If you’re stuck indoors, make it as bright as possible in the morning, but sunlight is best. See you tomorrow for more sun.

Emerging data from clinical trials points to potentially powerful use of psilocybin for the treatment of depression and certain forms of addiction, and perhaps compulsive disorders, too.

One of the key questions to arise from those studies is: “what is the relationship between the actual journey (the subjective experience under the influence of psilocybin) and the improvements in mood and other thought patterns that persist afterwards“?

If you think about it, this is a critical issue to resolve because it needn't be the case that the actual journey and insights therein are the cause of the antidepressant effects. The rewiring (neuroplasticity) events in the brain could, for instance, occur afterwards or be independent of the subjective experience of the journey. Or they could simply be the consequence of the serotonin receptor activation and strengthening of certain neural connections, or even neurogenesis.

During the Huberman Lab episode out now, I discuss the data related to all of these issues. I also discuss safety considerations, and who should absolutely avoid psilocybin, which, of course are critical issues. https://lnkd.in/g4v3QtHU

Thank you STANFORD Magazine and Deni Bechard for this article about my arc leading up to the Huberman Lab podcast, our ethos and where it’s all headed.

Tomorrow, Dr. Peter Attia and I will release a podcast episode that essentially could be called “Is there anything you can take that is going to make you live longer?” But it could also be called “What is NAD? and should you try to increase it with exogenous NMN, NR, or NAD?”

A new Huberman Lab episode is out now with Jordan Peterson, Ph.D., psychologist, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, best-selling author and prominent online educator.

A new Huberman Lab episode is out now on with Dr. Martha Beck, a Harvard-trained sociologist, bestselling author, and one of the world’s foremost experts on personal exploration and development. https://lnkd.in/giTWDxab

Episode 3 of a 6-part Huberman Lab Guest Series on sleep with Matthew Walker, PhD, professor of neuroscience and psychology and founder of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley is out now.

We explain how our sleep architecture changes as we age. We also cover how childhood development and aging affect sleep biology and needs. We also discuss whether polyphasic sleep (multiple short sleep periods) is beneficial.

Then, we discuss naps, including their positive benefits, individual variability, those who should not nap, and alternative rest states like non-sleep deep rest. Dr. Walker shares protocols to optimize nap duration, timing and effectiveness.

We also explore the effects of caffeine on sleep and other health aspects, as well as the optimal timing for caffeine intake.

This episode describes many actionable science-based tools for optimizing sleep, naps and caffeine use for better health and performance.

A new Huberman Lab episode is out now on the science of your gut sense and the gut-brain axis with Diego Bohórquez, PhD, a professor of medicine and neurobiology at Duke University School of Medicine and a pioneering researcher into how we use our 'gut sense.'

You would think that by now, given our understanding of the power of different wavelengths of light and varying light intensities to influence wakefulness or sleep, someone would have developed a relatively inexpensive source capable of easily controlling both wavelength and intensity.

None of the commercial versions I’ve seen achieve this effectively across a range of intensities. Someone should build it—the health and medical applications are tremendous.

Many of my academic colleagues (MDs and/or PhDs) have become substantially healthier in recent years through lifestyle changes. Many are beginning to apply metabolic health hypotheses in their work and are discussing diseases differently now. Exciting!

Dopamine is the molecule responsible for motivation, focus and drive and, to a lesser extent, pleasure. Dopamine does other things, too, of course. There are many ways to increase dopamine: deliberate cold exposure, l-tyrosine from food or supplements, various compounds for ADHD, positive anticipation, novel rewards, laughter, and caffeine…but unlike the other things listed here, caffeine increases dopamine function by increasing dopamine receptors.

Here I describe the types of protocols one might consider in light of this. https://bit.ly/3IFzln7

A very interesting study shows that a disrupted gut microbiome in fibromyalgia (based on mouse and human data) supports the idea that improving gut microbial conditions may help. You can wait for more research or simply consume one to three servings of low-sugar fermented food daily, according to other findings.

If you don’t like the leap to the actionable, no problem—people have different thresholds for action. That said, we are seeing more and more data suggesting that improving your gut microbiome is a great idea, and low-sugar fermented foods are the best approach (even more than fiber, though that helps too). https://lnkd.in/g-ia3Mgv

True experts are able to think about and communicate about a topic at multiple levels of granularity. If a message is too coarse, ask for more specificity. If a message is too detailed, ask, “so what?” A real expert will be able to flexibly (and reflexively) deliver both.

A new Huberman Lab episode is out now on how to build a strong, pain-proof back with Stuart McGill, Ph.D., a distinguished professor emeritus of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo and a world expert on spine anatomy and physiology, back pain, and rehabilitation.

A new Huberman Lab episode is out now on the causes and treatments for autism with Dr. Karen Parker, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Social Neurosciences Research Program at Stanford University School of Medicine.

A number of people have asked me to cover the recent shifts at the The National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Rather than post piecemeal, I’ll be interviewing the leadership for my podcast. I’m very familiar with the history of science funding in the U.S. from the grantee and reviewer side—I was a standing and ad hoc reviewer for more than 10 years and funded by the NIH for twice as long. I will address both intramural (labs at the NIH) and extramural (outside the NIH) programs.

I have my questions. Please let me know yours.

A new episode of the Huberman Lab Podcast is out on science-supported tools to improve your focus and concentration.

This episode focuses on tools to improve your focus and concentration ability. All the tools are based on peer-reviewed studies and combinations of peer-reviewed studies that will allow anyone—students, adults, creatives, athletes etc., to quickly increase their focus capability and indeed to rewire the neural circuits for focus so that focusing becomes more natural.

As always, thank you for your interest in science!

A new Huberman Lab episode is out now on how the brain works, curing blindness and how to navigate a career path with E.J. Chichilnisky, Ph.D., a professor of neurosurgery and ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine.

New Huberman Lab Podcast is out now on the science of making and breaking habits.

• Habits and neuroplasticity
• Task bracketing and habit forming
• Timing habits and brain states
• 2 effective habit systems
• Optimizing rewards
• Why notifications don't work

Avoid bright light of all colors between 10 pm and 4 am. If you need to be awake late at night, red light will be your best choice. If the red light is sufficiently dim, it will not inhibit melatonin production or trigger cortisol peaks.

Full episode: https://lnkd.in/gsQBKdde

#light #shiftwork #hubermanlab