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
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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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