Huberman Lab 5/17/22

There is a funny story behind attending this. While listening to Ep. 61 of the Huberman lab podcast, I heard that he was coming to Seattle on the 17th of May. Since I am not up to date on Huberman lab content, I quickly was astonished and proceeded to buy two tickets to the event the day before it was scheduled to take place.

And boy, did I not regret it. For about $70 a ticket in the main level section of the Moore theater (first time I have been there in Seattle), it’s not bad value.

Review part:

So, I have listened to ~60 episodes of Huberman content. As such, I think I can say that I am fairly certain I know a lot about what he will say. I predicted sleep (obviously if you know him well enough), microbiome, neuroplasticity, interesting supplements to consider, evolution, stress, and maximizing productivity. He mentioned basically every topic besides the microbiome, which I was sad about.

For about 60% of the content in his live event, I personally had learned about from listening to his podcasts. So, about 40% of the content was information that was not shared publicly before.

He gave a bit of background about himself, his lab, motivation to learn, and what is his purpose. I did not have much idea about the lab he ran in Stanford, researching the neuroplasticity of cuttlefish and mice, while making map models of different parts of the brain shaping an experience. It was the story regarding cuttlefish that paved the way for much of the interest of his discussion. The event then finished with a Q&A session, which went over the expected time limit where anybody can ask questions and they are answered based on a rank of popularity.

All in all, if you do listen to the Huberman Lab podcast, it is worth attending. If you do not listen to the Huberman Lab, but have an interest in science, go with a friend. Otherwise, just listen to the podcast for free on YouTube or Spotify (if you have a membership). Most of the notes that will be transcribed here are fairly simple to pick up on anyway.

The content:

• Blue/yellow contrast in environment = rich in sunlight. This light is what our neurons in our eyes are most sensitive to. So, it is not your bright light in your bedroom or kitchen that help wake your body up in the morning, but the early sunrise with blue/yellow contrast
• The nervous system can be partitioned into a hardwired (unchangeable) and a malleable (changeable) part. The hardwired part provides a map of prior experience for our brains which help us predict what may happen next
• The nervous system is made up of neural “estate” neurons that shape their firing in response to stimuli in a different spatial space. This was seen by an experiment where we can occlude one eye for several hours and neuroplasticity takes place to strengthen the other eye’s vision (Bao et al.).
• Cuttlefish are cephalopods that translocate eyes once transfixed to their prey (if the cuttlefish face their prey head-on). One story Huberman had was how cuttlefish also camouflage themselves if they see a stranger walk into a room. This happened when a reporter walked into the room with cuttlefish and the cuttlefish were nowhere to be seen. After some time, Huberman and another colleague were finally able to see the cuttlefish camouflaging with the purple plants.
• How to focus? Dilate/widen gaze to relax your eyes. Then tighten the visual aperture. This sets the thinking aperture. If you keep this gaze, then that helps with focus. This advice was referenced in the context of how many struggle with keeping focused at work and the first thing we should *focus* on is our visual field. Seems obvious, but when you also interpose the context of someone working at a cafe facing a window outside to look at people walking by, that can make a considerable impact.
• How can neuroplasticity increase? It can be triggered by agitation, straining, and mistakes. In fact, this is an active learning strategy that is employed any time you take a practice test. The mistakes you make point to the questions that need review. The tennis serve that you keep faulting trains you to keep adjusting to get it right. *Tie this in to focus* If we keep focusing on a certain task, plasticity will be more efficient, learning will occur.
• Sleep & Rest: Do not meditate after 6pm and onward. Meditating teaches us to focus deeply, not to start to wind down for sleep. (When he said this, I figure different meditation protocols would produce varying results, so take this advice with a grain of salt). When you start to rest, refrain from looking upwards with your eyes since the neurons in your eyes that are triggered by environmental stimuli are activated that confer pathways stimulating neuroplasticity (learning). This is another reason to keep your computer at eye level while you are working (also your neck will thank you!). On the flip side, it is better to look down, since that will prime your brain to relax and wind down more.
• Dopamine Depletion: (See the book “Dopamine Nation” by Anna Lembke…currently reading it right now). The analogy that Huberman had cited during his talk was about imagining the dopamine rush as a wave pool. Each time there is a dopamine rush, imagine the wave pool at its highest. So, we should expect a dopamine trough, where there is no reuptake of dopamine to keep a healthy balance of dopamine. However, if we do not have that associated trough, this wave pool spills out of the area, thus reducing the amount of dopamine available and can lead to a shortage over time. On the topic, there are more studies currently being done assessing the link between Tyrosine (an amino acid that is produced in the body and found in foods).
• Memory: How to acquire information and store it in the long-term memory bank. Study was done between two groups of people where an adrenaline spike that followed the bout of learning increased memory retention and recall (Whiteman). This cited study was after participants took 200mg of caffeine, so more than two average cups of coffee. Personally, this was the biggest shock to me because I was someone that thought consuming caffeine before studying would increase alertness, thereby increasing focus, helping boost memory. With this finding, it turns out that coffee after you learn something new may be more effective in boosting memory. The mechanism for this is theorized to involve the epinephrine (adrenaline) pathway. Huberman compared the effect to getting oneself into a car crash, but the brain is able to remember many details that preceded the car crash and followed shortly thereafter due to a spike in adrenaline.
• Misc: Beta-blockers decrease memory. “Although beta-blockers do not impair cognition in normal subjects, this article explores the possibility that central nervous system (CNS)-active beta-blockers could affect delayed memory in patients with cognitive impairment” (Gliebus & Lippa).

Works Cited

A. Huberman, personal communication, 17 May 2022

Bao N. Nguyen, Menaka Malavita, Olivia L. Carter, Allison M. McKendrick,
Neuroplasticity in older adults revealed by temporary occlusion of one eye,
Cortex,
Volume 143,
2021,
Pages 1–11,
ISSN 0010–9452,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2021.07.004.

Gliebus, G., & Lippa, C. F. (2007). The Influence of β-Blockers on Delayed Memory Function in People With Cognitive Impairment. American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementiasr, 22(1), 57–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1533317506295889

Whiteman, H. (2015, June 23). Caffeine may boost long-term memory. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270963