This episode explains the science of motivation and drive. I describe how dopamine — a chemical we all make in our brain, underlies our desire for and pursuit of our goals, as well as our capacity to move and experience pleasure. I describe how we can leverage specific behaviors, reward schedules and dopamine-prolactin balance to help ensure we can maintain motivation and capacity for pleasure over the long term. I also discuss dopamine in the context of ADHD, craving and addiction, and some absolutely amazing results about specificity of drug effects based purely on belief.

Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.

Thank you to our sponsors

AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman

LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab

Waking Up: https://www.wakingup.com/huberman

Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:30 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up

00:04:22 Announcement: Spanish Subtitles

00:05:06 Emotions, Addiction & Mindset

00:06:22 Motivation & Movement: The Dopamine Connection

00:07:29 A Double-Edged Dopamine Blade

00:08:56 Dopamine Fundamentals: Precursor to Adrenalin

00:10:15 The Reward Pathway: An Accelerator & A Brake

00:12:10 Motivation = Pleasure Plus Pain

00:14:14 The Dopamine Staircase: Food, Sex, Nicotine, Cocaine, Amphetamine

00:16:15 Subjective Control of Dopamine Release

00:17:40 Social Media and Video Games

00:18:15 Addiction & Dopamine: Progressively Diminishing Returns

00:18:48 Novelty, Sensation-Seeking & Anticipation

00:20:15 Craving: Part Pain, Part Pleasure & Pain Always Prevails

00:23:11 Desire Scales With Pain: The Yearning Function

00:24:43 The Croissant Craving Circuit

00:25:45 “Here and Now” Molecules: Serotonin, Bliss & Raphe Nucleus

00:26:26 In Your Skin Or Out In the World

00:27:25 Cannabinoids Lethargy & Forgetfulness

00:28:15 The Almond Meditation

00:29:30 Drugs That Shift Exteroception Versus Interoception

00:30:36 Emotional Balance, Active & Passive Manipulation

00:32:36 Procrastination: Leveraging Stress, Breathing, Caffeine, L-Tyrosine, Prescription Drugs

00:37:04 When Enough Is Never Enough; How Dopamine Undermines Itself

00:38:58 Dopamine-Prolactin Dynamics: Sex, Reproduction & Refractory Periods

00:40:30 The Coolidge Effect: Novelty-Induced Suppression of Prolactin

00:42:22 Vitamin B6, Zinc As Mild Prolactin Inhibitors

00:43:25 Schizophrenia, Dopamine Hyperactivity and Side Effects of Anti-Dopaminergic Drugs

00:45:08 Prolactin, Post-Satisfaction “Lows” & Extending the Arc of Dopamine

00:48:00 The Chemistry of “I Won, But Now What?”

00:49:00 Healthy Emotional Development: Child and Parent

00:50:03 Never Say “Maybe” (Reward Prediction Error)

00:52:02 Surprise!

00:52:59 Are You Suppressing Your Drive and Motivation By Working Too Late?

00:54:50 Disambiguating Pleasure and Drive: Dopamine Makes Us Anti-Lazy

00:58:00 Beta-Phenylethylamine (PEA), & Acetyl L-Carnitine

01:00:00 Attention Deficit Disorders, Cal Newport Books, Impulsivity & Obesity

01:03:55 Leveraging Dopamine Schedules

01:05:22 Subjective Control of Dopamine and Drug Effects: The “Adderall” Experiment

01:09:03 Caffeine May Protect Dopamine Neurons, Methamphetamine Kills Them

01:10:57 Nicotine: Dopamine, Possible Neuroprotection, Prolactin Increase

01:11:53 Gambling, Intermittent Reinforcement, & Persistent Goal Seeking (Bad and Good)

01:14:14 Intermittent Halting of Celebration; Enjoy Your Wins, But Not All of Them

01:18:38 A Story Example of Intermittent Reward to Maintain Long-Term Drive and Motivation

01:21:25 Corrections & Notes About Spanish Captions & Other Languages Soon

01:24:00 Synthesis & Framework, Zero-Cost Support & A Note About Sponsors

Disclaimer & Disclosures

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