Essentials: Science of Building Strong Social Bonds with Family, Friends & Romantic Partners
Andrew Huberman explains the biology and psychology of social bonding, covering neural circuits, neurochemicals, and hormones that govern how we form and maintain relationships. He describes social homeostasis circuits involving structures like the ACC, amygdala, hypothalamus, and dorsal raphe nucleus, and discusses how introversion and extroversion may relate to dopamine responses to social interaction. He also explores physiological synchrony, early caregiver-infant attachment, emotional versus cognitive empathy, the role of oxytocin, and what happens in the nervous system during breakups.
How to Speak Clearly & With Confidence | Matt Abrahams
Andrew Huberman interviews communication expert Matt Abrahams from Stanford Graduate School of Business about how to improve speaking and communication in public, online, and one-on-one contexts. They discuss why public speaking anxiety is so common, how to communicate more authentically, how to prepare and structure messages, and how to practice spontaneous speaking without memorizing scripts. The conversation includes specific tools for managing anxiety, reducing filler words, handling interruptions, using stories effectively, engaging different audiences, and building long-term communication skills through reflection and feedback.
Essentials: Breathing for Mental & Physical Health & Performance | Dr. Jack Feldman
Andrew Huberman and respiratory neuroscientist Dr. Jack Feldman discuss how breathing is generated and controlled by the brain, with emphasis on the pre-Bötzinger complex, the diaphragm, and the evolution of mammalian respiration. They explore physiological sighs, how breathing patterns influence emotional and cognitive states, rodent studies of slow breathing and fear, and potential mechanisms involving the vagus nerve, olfaction, and carbon dioxide regulation. In the latter part, they discuss magnesium threonate's effects on synaptic plasticity and cognitive aging, including animal and human data on learning, memory, and mild cognitive decline.
Essentials: Erasing Fears & Traumas Using Modern Neuroscience
Andrew Huberman explains the neuroscience of fear, trauma, and post-traumatic stress, detailing the brain and body circuits that generate and maintain these states. He describes how the autonomic nervous system, HPA axis, and amygdala-based threat circuitry interact with memory and prefrontal narrative systems to create adaptive and maladaptive fear responses. The episode reviews behavioral therapies, drug-assisted psychotherapies, physiological breathing protocols, lifestyle factors, and certain supplements that can help extinguish and replace fearful and traumatic memories.
THE HUMAN SCREAM
Hosts Josh and Chuck explore the human scream, examining its acoustic properties, evolutionary functions, and how the brain uniquely processes it compared to normal speech. They discuss research on the "roughness" domain that makes screams and artificial alarms especially effective at triggering amygdala-based fear responses, even during sleep. The episode also covers different emotional types of screams, iconic film screams, extreme metal vocal techniques, the potential role of screaming in pain control, and the limited evidence for primal scream therapy.
Essentials: How Your Brain Functions & Interprets the World | Dr. David Berson
Andrew Huberman speaks with neuroscientist David Burson about how the nervous system creates perception, focusing on vision, color processing, circadian regulation, balance, and movement control. They explain how retinal circuits, melanopsin-containing ganglion cells, the vestibular system, cerebellum, midbrain, basal ganglia, and cortex interact to stabilize our view of the world and guide behavior. The conversation concludes with a striking example of cortical plasticity in a blind Braille reader whose visual cortex had been repurposed for touch.
Celebrity Nutritionist Mona Sharma: Stop Stress Before It Becomes Disease! (Do THIS Before Every Meal)
Jay Shetty interviews nutritionist and wellness strategist Mona Sharma about her journey from corporate burnout, heart palpitations, and PCOS to healing through yoga, meditation, holistic nutrition, and nervous system work. Mona explains why she focuses on root causes rather than symptoms, emphasizing stress and nervous system dysregulation as precursors to disease. She shares practical tools like breathwork, visualization, heart coherence, and personalized morning routines to help people shift from chronic stress into a restorative state where true healing can occur.
#829: James Nestor - Breathing Protocols to Reboot Your Health, Fix Your Sleep, and Boost Performance
Tim Ferriss interviews science journalist James Nestor about how everyday breathing habits profoundly affect health, sleep, mental performance, and athletic capacity. They discuss historical and modern breathwork practices, the dangers of mouth breathing and sleep-disordered breathing (especially in kids), and simple, low-cost ways to improve nasal breathing, sleep quality, and CO2 tolerance. Nestor also explores indoor CO2 levels and cognition, the emerging field of bioelectric medicine, breathing for athletes, and how he approached structuring and writing his bestselling book "Breath."
Essentials: Using Your Nervous System to Enhance Your Immune System
Andrew Huberman explains how the immune system works, outlining the three main defense layers: physical barriers like skin and mucus, the innate immune response, and the adaptive immune system that generates antibodies. He describes how sickness behavior arises via neural and blood-borne signals, then details specific nervous-system-based tools-sleep posture, a cyclic hyperventilation breathing protocol, mindset effects on dopamine, fascia-targeted electroacupuncture, and spirulina-that can reduce inflammation, support immune function, and potentially shorten illness duration.
The Insulin & Heart Doctor: The Fastest Way To Burn Dangerous Visceral Fat. This is How Insulin Is Quietly Clotting Your Blood! - Dr Pradip Jamnadas
Cardiologist Pradip Jamnadas explains how modern lifestyles drive heart disease through insulin resistance, visceral fat, chronic inflammation, and hidden factors like gut dysfunction, toxins, and mold. He describes how fasting, time‑restricted eating, targeted exercise, and gut repair can reduce visceral fat, lower inflammation, improve vascular health, and rebalance the autonomic nervous system. The conversation also covers LDL particle quality, the limitations and side effects of statins, practical diet guidance, vagus nerve "hacks", and his personal reflections on mortality and living in the present moment.