WEBVTT - Andrew Huberman ON: Learning Effectively & How to Train Your Brain For Optimal Performance 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.280 When we positively associate with a song, a person, a face, 0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:06.680 an object. We don't just benefit from those activities based 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:09.239 on the effects of those activities. It's also what we 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:12.720 believe about those activities. Combine and the release of dopamine 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:15.520 makes you more capable of then leaning into life and 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:18.000 going and doing other things. The effect of a small, 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.080 even you know, half a percent increase in dopamine transmission 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:23.920 in the brain is the difference between feeling like your 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:28.520 life is bleak and you can completely attack the day 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:38.199 in the positive sense. Hey, everyone, welcome back to on Purpose. 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.800 I'm so grateful let you come back every single week 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:44.519 to listen, learn and grow. And I am so excited 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.040 to be talking to you today. I can't believe it. 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.640 My new book, Eight Rules of Love is out and 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.600 I cannot wait to share it with you. I am 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.720 so excited for you to read this book, for you 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:59.160 to listen to this book. I read the audiobook. If 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:01.800 you haven't got it already, make sure you go to 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:05.720 eight Rules of Love dot com. It's dedicated to anyone 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:09.000 who's trying to find, keep, or let go of love. 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:12.000 So if you've got friends that are dating, broken up, 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.839 or struggling with love. Make sure you grab this book 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:17.160 and I'd love to invite you to come and see 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:20.880 me for my global tour Love Rules. Go to Ja 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:26.360 shettytour dot com to learn more information about tickets, VIP experiences, 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:28.960 and more. I can't wait to see you this year. 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:31.000 And you know that the podcast for me is just 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:33.840 an opportunity to reach out to people that I'm inspired by, 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.319 people that I feel are changing the world, people that 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:39.160 I feel have amazing insights that I can learn from 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:41.520 and want to share with you. And today's guest is 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:43.280 someone that I've been connected with for a while, but 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:47.120 I'm so excited to finally have him in the studio 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:52.520 because not only is his insights having a huge impact 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:55.440 on how we live, how we think, just the energy 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:57.480 that I felt from him in the first couple of 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.880 moments that I've met him, I can already tell that 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.160 it's all in his heart too. And so to meet 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:05.880 someone who's super strategic, super scientific, has an incredible mind, 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:08.400 but has a beautiful heart in person, that's my kind 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:12.480 of person. And today's guest is none other than Andrew Huberman. 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:16.200 He's a neuroscientist and tenant professor in the Department of 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:20.520 Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He has 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:24.200 made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:28.280 brain function, and neuroplasticity, which is the ability of our 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:32.560 nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills, and 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:36.560 cognitive functioning. He also is a McKnight Foundation and Pew 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:41.239 Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Kogan Award in twenty seventeen. 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:45.000 Work from the Huberman Laboratory at Stanford School of Medicine 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:49.519 has been published in top journals including Nature, Science, and Sell, 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:54.280 and has been featured in Time, BBC, Scientific, American Discover, 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.160 and other top media outlets. In twenty twenty one, doctor 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:00.920 Huberman launched The Huberman Lab Parts, which I'm a huge 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.320 fan of and I know you are too. The podcast 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:05.560 is frequently ranked in the top twenty five of all 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:08.799 podcasts globally and is often ranked as the number one 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:13.040 in the categories of science, Education, Health and fitness. Please 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.000 welcome my new friend and someone that I'm a huge 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.960 fan of an admire Andrew hu Woman. Andrew, thank you 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:23.480 for doing this, thank you for being here, and honestly, 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:24.840 thank you for what you do in the world. I 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:29.560 think it's been brilliant to see someone bring so much 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:34.480 heart into science and science into heart. And I know 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:36.320 that people who listen to you and hear from you 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:38.440 and communicate with you, and even I've really meant it 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.960 a few moments we just spent right now. I love 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:48.320 that combination, and I wonder how you whether you even 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:51.440 see it that way, whether you don't. But I'm fascinated 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.000 by Is that how you've always lived? Have you been 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:56.520 fascinated by the heart and science for a while. First 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:57.760 of all, I just want to say thank you for 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:00.640 having me here. We've known each other through some mutual 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:02.920 contacts for a while and it's a delight to be 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.680 here an admirer and a fan of all you do 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.080 and the way you approach it. So heartfelt. Thanks for 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:13.560 having me here in terms of you know, how things 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:18.480 have evolved to where they are now. You know, I 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.040 don't have much of a mission statement, but I suppose 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:22.920 if I had to pick one, it's to share the 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.640 beauty and the utility of biology. Since I was very young, 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:30.000 I've been obsessed with learning, and I've also had a 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:33.040 compulsion to share what I've learned, especially when I think 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:35.640 that the information can be of use to people. So 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.000 the little six and eight year old and ten year 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:41.200 old version of me wouldn't shut up. I was just 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.560 constantly talking about all the stuff I had been reading 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.360 about on the weekends, and over time I just made 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.600 sense to become an academic for that reason. And then nowadays, 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:52.560 with the advent of podcasting, I have this wonderful opportunity 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.159 to share things that I think are useful in terms 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.599 of the heart and the mind. You know, I can 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:00.760 only frame it by saying that, you know, our nervous 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.440 system is our brain, our spinal cord, but of course 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:05.240 all their connections with the organs of the body and 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.919 back again, and so we really can't divorce any of 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.400 the organs of the body from our thinking and feeling 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.279 and action and vice versa, as you very well know. 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.600 And then from a more personal standpoint, you know, I've 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:20.239 had the great benefit of training with mentors in science 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.840 who really lived and breathed their science, but also had 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:27.320 a deep sense of humanity. Each one of them had 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:31.400 an ear, an ear towards things that were relevant to them. 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:35.760 In one case, one with a particular interest in mental 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.200 health and the struggles around mental health and mental illness. 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:43.320 The other just a person who just loved animals and 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:46.640 the natural kingdom. And then my other advisor was a 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.480 very strong advocate for scientists of all kinds and backgrounds. 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:53.520 And so I was so blessed to be weaned by 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:55.520 people who really instilled in me a love and a 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:58.760 desire for learning and sharing and doing research, but also 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:04.000 understood that how one shows up to the conversation means everything. 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:06.280 And so you know, I just feel very blessed to 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.080 have had that, and I'm just trying to do right 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:11.080 by them. I love hearing that, like I had no 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.360 idea that that was a part of how you were 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:18.119 mentored and guided. And I mean, I'm sure they feel 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.400 very proud in seeing that you continue on and pass 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:25.880 that legacy and so beautifully. But I think what I 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.200 find even more intriguing about that is so many of 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:32.640 our early learning experiences are not necessarily that way. And 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:34.839 you said that you loved learning and you love sharing. 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:37.599 I think most people that I know, are at least 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:40.080 that I talk to or I hear from in comments 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.920 or podcasts, would say school was not an exciting place 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.359 for them. Maybe they went to college or didn't go 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.880 to college, but they necessarily didn't have a positive experience. 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.760 Maybe it was filled with fear or doubt or judgment 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:56.880 or criticism, or maybe there was a lack of confidence. 0:06:57.200 --> 0:06:59.200 That could have been not only from teachers in the 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.799 school system, it could have been from friends or bullies 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.720 or people in that environment. So what I'm fascinated by 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:11.400 is our relationship with learning, because when I look at 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:17.640 my relationship with learning too, I remember starting off having 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:23.200 that buzz and spark, then almost feeling like I was 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.200 forced to believe there are only certain ways you could learn. 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.160 I grew up believing I didn't like reading because we 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.480 were only encouraged to read fiction books, and even till 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:35.400 this day, I don't like reading fiction books. I have 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.040 no interest in reading fiction books. I love reading nonfiction. 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.120 And today I can read nonfiction books every day, every week, 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:44.160 every month, every year, and I'm fully engrossed and immersed. 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:47.320 That's why I'm excited for your book one day. And 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:50.640 I think that is something that I learned that I 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:52.840 do love reading. I do love learning, but I was 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.440 never introduced to that form until my father gave me 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.160 a biography when I was fourteen years old. And so 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.600 how do you think our relationship with learning has been 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.520 formed over time? Hearing from your own as well. I 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:08.840 think it was the great physicist Max del Brooke who 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.840 said that, you know, when teaching, assume zero knowledge and 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.800 infinite intelligence. I try and keep that in mind. I 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.720 think that we are all innate learners by virtue of 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:21.440 the fact that this thing, this nervous system as it's called, 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:25.760 is really a map of our experience, and it's there 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:29.120 to form itself. It's unusual among the organs in that 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:32.000 it shapes itself right, Unlike the kidney or the liver 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.200 there doesn't constantly update its own form and function in 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:38.040 the same way. The nervous system is there essentially to 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:40.480 educate itself so that it can operate better in a 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.720 given environment. And once one understands that, you start to 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:47.040 realize that the forms of learning are many. So, for instance, 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:55.080 you know math, or I suppose in the UK's maths, maths, 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:58.680 you know, could be learned by way of different using 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.320 different types of examples, movement of trains or bartering systems, 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:05.280 or on paper just simple long division and multiplication. But 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:07.720 in the end, what you're really trying to find anytime 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.000 you're teaching or learning is you're trying to find a 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.880 universal algorithm of how the brain works. And what I 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.120 mean by that is that you know, all these nerve cells, 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:19.080 they only can communicate through chemicals and electricity. You know, 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:21.640 it's really just meat in there, I believe it or not, 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:26.480 but there are algorithms that are universal. So whether or 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:30.080 not one learns better verbally or visually, or whether one 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:33.640 has a propensity for math or for verbal subjects, what 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:36.200 is true for all of us is that the brain 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:39.920 is they're always asking questions and trying to make predictions 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:42.000 about its environment. And I think what happens is when 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:46.560 we're children, we are learning passively all the time. As 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:48.440 we get older, and especially as we get to our 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.320 mid in late twenties, it takes an immense amount of 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:53.840 focus and energy in order to learn. But of course 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:56.720 the nervous system can still shape itself well into adulthood, 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:00.400 almost certainly for the entire lifespan. But that focus and 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:03.839 energy feels almost like an agitation. And I think that 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:07.120 as children, we don't necessarily experience that agitation, because we 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.880 can for better, for worse. We can experience and change passively. 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:14.480 Neuralplasticity just happens by way of pure experience. As we 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:18.160 get older mid twenties, early thirties and so on, that 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:23.280 threshold of agitation for people feels like it's something to 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.560 back away from. But if we can learn to approach 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.679 that and understand that that agitation is actually the circulation 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.800 of chemicals, which is the brain and nervous system telling itself. Aha, 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:37.079 now I need to pay attention and change. We can 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.600 start to actually modify the way that system works. So 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:41.640 it's a bit of a convoluted answer to your question, 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:43.880 but I think that at the heart of our nervous 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:47.520 system is this ability, these algorithms by which it can 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:51.200 change themselves. And it's on all of us to understand 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:54.120 that that bit of agitation and discomfort need not be 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:58.960 interpreted as discomfort. That's the edge where learning is beginning. 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:03.400 So confusion and being perplexed, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:06.360 amount of information, that's actually the stir of chemicals that 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:08.240 are queuing the nervous system to change. Because if it 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.839 can do something easily, there's no reason for the nervous 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:13.440 system to change. Now, in terms of different styles of 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:16.280 teaching and learning, I think that many of us experience 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:20.680 that agitation early on, and we, for reasons that are understandable, 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.559 we backed away from learning anymore. So, for instance, I'm 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:27.480 musically I can't. I'm musically deficient. I love music, but 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:29.880 I can't play music to save my life. And I 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.160 think that's entirely because as a kid, every time I 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:36.320 would try and play music, it just sounded terrible. Everyone cringed, 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:40.280 the dogs, dogs literally howled, So I stopped right But 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:42.959 knowing what I know now, that would be the queue 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:47.040 to that. The agitation, the stress, the embarrassment is actually 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:49.440 the cue to the nervous system that it's about to 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:52.440 rewire itself. So I think if people just understood that 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:57.920 children and adults would lean into learning more regularly and 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:02.000 hopefully with more ease overall. Yeah, definitely, I mean even 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:05.959 now when what sparks from that answer, which I actually 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:10.560 really appreciated, is the idea that as we get older, 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:12.839 as you said, it has to become more conscious, it 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:18.079 has that tension. It's almost like you have to start 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:21.240 figuring out how you learn based best and how you 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:25.600 process ideas. So for me, I know that I love 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:29.679 to first dive deep and immerse myself in something, and 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.160 then I like to create a structured approach to get 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:34.760 there if I enjoy it. So if I want to 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.600 learn a new skill, I'll get obsessed with it for 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:40.360 a weekend. I'll go on the course, I'll read the book, 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:42.800 I'll watch every video. I just want to dive in 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.680 to really see if I genuinely care or whether it's 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.880 me thinking I care, and to try and separate that 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.800 ego and that true desire for me at least. And 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:54.839 if I do a weekend of something and I realized, oh, 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:56.760 my ego like that, but I didn't really like that, 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:00.319 I'm going to step away or actually, wow, this is fascinating, 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:03.120 then I'll go and build a step by step plan 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:06.760 with small steps and incremental steps that I've learned over 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:11.640 a long time of learning different things. How can people 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.360 think about the best way they can learn? What are 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:17.320 different styles? What are different methods that you think people 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.000 can think? If someone's listening right now and they're like Andrew, well, 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:23.160 I want to learn a new instrument, or I want 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.319 to learn a new language, or maybe it's I want 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.040 to learn how to start a podcast, or I want 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.600 to learn how to players sport or whatever it may be. 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.400 How can someone start thinking about how they should approach learning? 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.880 Terrific question, and fortunately nowadays we can look to studies 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.360 done in humans that define some very key principles. The 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.760 first principle is that the whole process of neuroplasticity and 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:48.800 learning is really a two stage process. First, there must 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:53.040 be focus and alertness. That focus and alertness is associated 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.559 with the release of neurochemicals so called neuromodulators, things like 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.520 a setocline in particular, which sort of acts as highlighter 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:02.880 pen if you will, for certain connections in the brain 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:08.040 to later be reinforced. And the neurochemical adrenaline, which is 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.520 also called epinephrin also depending on if you're in the 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.959 UK or elsewhere. A long interesting story not for this 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:18.960 time about why it has multiple names, also called adrenaline, 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:21.760 is associated with an increasing kind of agitation and alertness 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:23.920 a pseudocoline. Think of it as kind of a spotlight 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.520 or a highlighter pen for certain connections in the brain, 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:29.680 so you need alertness and focus. And then the second 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.800 stage is that it is only during periods of deep rest, 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:35.760 in particular sleep and something that I call non sleep 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:38.840 deep rest, which I've given an ACRONYMCA. Scientists like acronyms, 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.760 n SDR, non sleep, deep rest, things like yoga, nidra, 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.120 things like shallow naps, things like forms of meditation that 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.920 don't involve a lot of focused concentration. You're a far 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:52.120 more the experience a meditator than I. So I'm outside 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:55.720 my wheelhouse when talking about meditation. But it is only 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.720 periods of intense focus and alertness followed by periods of 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:02.320 deep rest that allow the nervous system to change, and 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:04.480 there is an abundance of evidence for that. So that's 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.600 the first thing to understand. The brain actually rewires during 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:11.760 deep sleep and rest, because during deep sleep and rest, naps, yoga, nidra, 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:15.720 deep sleep, there's a replay of the very same cells 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.280 in the brain that we're active during learning, oftentimes in 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.640 reverse for reasons that are still not understood, but at 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.960 a much higher repetition rate. So you're actually getting repetitions 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.680 while you sleep. This is why one will strain to 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.360 learn a language or a motor skill, or maths or 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.720 something like that over and over and over. Doesn't happen. 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.080 You take a couple of nights sleep, take a break 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.160 from and all of a sudden it's there, it's because 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.480 it happens in rest. Now, there's some other things that 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:42.400 one can do to enhance this process further that are 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.880 arrived to us from good data. First of all, there's 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.440 a so called alltradean rhythm, which is the ninety minute 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:51.720 cycles during which we can focus pretty well for a 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.520 duration of about ninety minutes. Of course, flickering in and 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.360 out of focus. Nobody really focuses for ninety minutes straight 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.480 unless they've built up that capacity or they are very 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.760 interested in what they're learning, right, they're just wrapped with attention. 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:06.960 Usually people flicker in and out, And of course, nowadays 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:08.920 there's a lot of literature and ideas about ways to 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:12.320 maintain focus, put the phone away, limit noise. Some people 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:14.560 like background noise, some people like music, some don't. It's 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.840 very contextual, highly individualized. But ninety minutes is sort of 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:22.960 the batch of time that the brain can focus really 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.400 hard on one thing before it needs a true rest 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:27.520 of an hour or two before you can go back 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.560 to learning or working very hard. The other thing is 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:35.200 that there's some very interesting data showing that shallow naps 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.120 or NSDR non sleep deep rest done within four hours 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:39.960 of one of these ninety minute learning belts can be 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:43.640 very beneficial for accelerating learning. And then there are these 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:47.160 incredible data on so called gap effects. So there have 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:50.480 been studies of skills that are physical skills, mental skills 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:52.440 where people will, for instance, try to learn scales on 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.600 the piano or a math problem or a spatial problem 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.560 or a physical skill, and then at random, every so 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.760 offen a buzzer will go off and the person will 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.320 just be told to do nothing, sit their eyes closed 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:07.480 or eyes open, and do nothing, just stop the learning 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.080 process for about ten seconds and then return to doing 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:12.600 what they're doing. These are these little microrests. It turns 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.840 out that during those microrests, the hippocampus of brain areas 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:17.560 you know that's associated with learning and memory, and the 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:22.119 neo cortex, also associated with learning and memory, undergoes replay 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.200 of the thing that the individuals trying to learn at 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:29.280 twenty times the speed, also in reverse, just as in sleep, 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:32.120 and that can lead and has been shown to lead 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:34.960 to accelerations in learning. So they're these ways. I wouldn't 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:37.320 even think of them as hacks because the word hack 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:39.240 is a little tricky because when I think of the 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:42.359 word hack, it seems doing something with an object or 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.919 a tool that wasn't designed for that purpose. Right, the 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:49.159 nervous system already harbors these mechanisms and one can access 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.360 them through these little microrests. So, whether or not you're 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:53.720 a child or an adult, every so often when trying 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.400 to learn something, just pause for ten seconds or so 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:58.840 do your best to just clear your mind. Of course, 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:01.520 it's very hard to clear them up mind, but do 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.040 your best to clear the mind and then go back 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.080 to the learning task as it were, And that has 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:09.600 been shown to vary to significantly accelerate the learning process 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:11.879 and the retention of newly learned information. And then the 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:14.639 last thing you touched on earlier, which is this notion 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:17.000 of incremental learning. You said you like to throw yourself 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:19.400 into something as kind of a litmus test of whether 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:22.159 or not you enjoy it or not. Turns out that 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.240 from beautiful work done by my colleague at Stanford School 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.080 of Medicine, Eric Knutson, has shown that yes, it's true 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.600 that early in development in humans this would be up 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:34.800 until the mid twenties, we can learn things in larger 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:38.440 batches and much more easily than we can later in life. However, 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:43.639 if one batches that work into smaller increments, and so 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.560 for instance, deciding maybe set a timer, turning the phone 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.040 off otherwise, and saying, I'm going to spend three minutes, 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:52.080 just three minutes in trying to intensely learn this thing, 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.160 even if I feel like I'm failing. If one does 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:58.960 that repeatedly, those little increments of learning can lead to 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.399 an outsized amount of learning overall. And so the nervous 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:05.880 system loves incremental learning. It loves to batch things into 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:09.440 focused little bouts. And you know, if that's already the 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:12.320 tools that you've built up, which it sounds like you have, wonderful, 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.000 But if somebody is out there trying, you know, struggling 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:17.880 to learn, really trying to break things down into very 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:21.160 brief periods of intense focus, that is the queue by 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:23.720 which during sleep the nervous system will change itself. And 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:25.760 this has been shown over and over and over again, 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:30.360 even in very late life individuals and people in there. 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:32.320 You know, we like to think life could go on 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:34.520 further than this, but people in their eighties and nineties 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:38.080 still have neuroplasticity. There's even evidence that new neurons can 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:40.440 be produced in the hipocampus of people in their late 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:44.000 eighties and nineties. So the capacity is there. This is 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:45.920 why I love what you do, because you would never 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:50.840 consider that the answer to learning is depressed right lessly, 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:56.200 provided the focus comes first. But of course, sleep deprivation 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.520 makes it very hard to learn. And there's something else 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.280 and that happens in sleep. Nowadays, we I think most people, 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:05.120 thanks to the beautiful work of Matthew Walker at Berkeley 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:07.720 and others, really understand the value of sleep for health, 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:10.680 immune system function, etc. There is a stage of sleep, 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.320 rapid eye movement sleep that we're all familiar with, of course, 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:17.000 and where literally the eyes are moving, that tends to 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:19.240 come later in the night, during the second half of sleep, 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:23.159 where there's a there's a tendency to have very emotional dreams, 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.119 or at least dreams that are laden with a lot 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:30.400 of emotional content of some kind. During rapid eye movement sleep, 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:33.440 there's an inability to move the body. We call this atonia. 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:37.919 It's literally a sleep induced paralysis that's healthy and a 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:41.640 complete failure of the nervous system to release adrenaline, epinephrin. 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.120 This is sort of like a trauma therapy in some sense. 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:47.120 If you think about it, it's a replay of an 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:51.480 emotional events the neurochemical that makes us feel tense and agitated, 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:54.639 so in our mind, those dreams can often feel very distressing. 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:57.520 It's been shown that if you deprive people of rapid 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.440 eye movement sleep, they fail to dump the negative emotions 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:03.520 of things that happened the day before and the day before. 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:07.080 And I think all of us have experienced the shifting 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:10.440 emotionality that happens when we are sleep deprived. What ends 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:12.760 up happening is that the little things seem like big things, 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:15.600 but after a few nights sleep, we're okay, and there's 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:18.080 no mystery to why that is anymore. I think almost 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:20.359 every sleep scientist believes that has something to do with 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:23.600 this built in kind of trauma release therapy where you 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:26.720