May 31, 2018
Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.
Meet Dr. Andrew Huberman.
He is a world-renowned Stanford neuroscience professor and director of Huberman Labs at Stanford. Accomplishments made all the more impressive in that he's barely over 40 years old. Scientific American has covered his breakthroughs towards curing human blindness and Alzheimer's, Rolling Stone has interviewed him to better understand the power of fear. Discover recently covered his work with the legendary Wim Hoff leading the research to determine how it's even possible to do Wim can do.
He has made numerous breakthrough contributions to the fields of brain development, brain plasticity, and neural regeneration and repair, and has been awarded numerous distinctions in his field including the McKnight Foundation Neuroscience Scholar Award as well as the 2017 ARVO Cogan Award for contributions to the field of vision science, in an effort to cure blindness. In 2017, the Huberman Lab created a state-of-the-art virtual reality platform for probing the neural mechanisms underlying pathologic fear and anxiety. That work involved collecting 360-degree video fear-inducing scenarios such as heights and claustrophobia. The Huberman VR platform aims to help people cope with stress in daily life and in patients suffering from PTSD. As mentioned, he has also worked with legendary “Iceman” Wim Hoff to provide further insight into the physiological basis for his record-setting feats in cold exposure.
Dr. Huberman is also a science and medical advisor for Neurohacker Collective, makers of cutting-edge nootropic formulations for increasing cognitive and emotional capacity. Keep up to speed on all the exciting things Dr. Huberman is working on by following him on Instagram: @hubermanlab.
During our discussion, you'll discover:
-Andrew's fascinating work with Wim Hoff in the Pyrenees and how to adjust the neural state with Wim Hoff breathing… 8:00
-How Andrew is curing blindness and Alzheimers at Stanford… 20:00
-A novel way via which biohackers may be able to grow new brain cells… 28:00
-Why Dr. Huberman says “the brain isn't supposed to make you happy all the time”… 36:45
-Andrew's opinion of single-ingredient substances like Modafinil and Ritalin, and how they are problematic for balanced improvements… 47:00
-Whether “smart drugs” should be considered cheating in sports, e-sports and university settings… 1:01:15
-Why DHEA was removed from the original Qualia formulation… 1:12:00
-And much more!
Resources from this episode:
–Neurohacker Collective's “Qualia Mind” Nootropic (use code GREENFIELD2018 for 15% discount)
-The Pulsecenters XL Pro PEMF device
–The nicotine toothpicks Ben uses
–Are You A Cheater If You're Using Smart Drugs To Get Ahead?
-Video: Tim Ferriss swallows 25 pills at once
Episode Sponsors
–Four Sigmatic Use our link and get 15% off your order.
–Organifi Use the promo code here and save 20%.
Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Dr. Huberman or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!
Wim Hof anaphylaxis protocol?
Dr. Huberman I wanted to inquire about your vision studies. My wife has glaucoma and we love to learn more on the studies. I tried to contact the lab but haven’t received any response. I have followed your work on vision loss and state change. The work you are doing is vitally important and could change lives. I hope to learn more, I would appreciate any information you could provide.
Ayron,
Thank you for your interest and the words of encouragement.
I searched my email inbox for yours but didn’t locate it. In case there is some filter-related issue with my standard email, please email me at this alternate address:
[email protected]
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Andrew
Ben, Thanks for bringing the information.
Question for Doc Huberman,
Doc, I have a sister with an inherited retinal disease called “Stargardt disease”. Does any of your work in blindness touch on this disease or would you know any promising studies ongoing?
Much appreciated, thanks in advance
Dear Jason,
Thank you for your question.
Currently our work deals with attempts to regenerate the retina in glaucoma, but the plasticity we hope will occur in our trials could take place deeper in the brain, in which case it would more broadly apply to other forms of vision loss that impact other cell types, such as in Stargardt’s. The results of our human trials are not in yet, but I assure you we are working ‘as fast as we carefully can’ and that we will report them ASAP and expand the work to include other conditions.
Best wishes,
Andrew
Thanks Andrew, i will review the show notes but can you remind me what is the best place to monitor your progress online.
-Jason
interesting podcast but please be aware some people have real issues swallowing pills, i for one, have almost choked and i take one pill at a time, unless they are tiny, so a larger than average pill is dangerous for me. and people with thyroid issues, often it is similar, you don’t have to change your pill, but maybe change your attitude, i would prefer to take multiple pills at a time
Thank you for the comment Sarah. I hadn’t realized people struggle with this. I will adjust my stance on this accordingly.
I haven’t explored if one can dissolve the contents of the pills in water first, but the folks at Neurohacker are responsive to questions so they might be able to inform you on that.
Best,
Andrew
Listening for the second time back to back!! Love, Love, Love the info, perspectives and processes.
Learned a tonne, especially how to layer external stimulation with compounds and experience/training to enhance neural adaptation/learning.
GRATITUDE at 1000% level!!
Thank you for the kind words Robert. Glad you found this to be of value.
Do keep us informed of your experience and results with the various protocols, etc.
Best Wishes,
Andrew
Hi Ben, Can you speak to why Andrew is opposed to DHEA. I know he mentioned that it is a hormone and he prefers to avoid taking hormones. I take it several times a week in clean fish oil form.
Thanks, Jamie
Jamie,
Do you mean DHA? I don’t avoid the DHA in fish oil. DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) on the other hand is a hormone that can be converted into other hormones easily. I prefer not to take exogenous hormones (the feedback loops make it a slippery slope…and they are banned by many sports regulatory agencies) although some may derive benefits from them. No judgement on my part, I was just stating my personal preference which is to optimize endocrine status through nutrition and lifestyle, and supplementation, but for me that doesn’t include ingesting and pure hormones [As always, consult a board certified MD when considering hormone augmentation.]
Andrew
Why such a huge amount of B12 vitamin?? Over 41000 DV? I would like to get this product, but such excessive amounts are putting me off especially since they are synthetic. Wish they made formula vitamin free, as I get plenty of natural B group vitamins from egg yolk, various livers, and fermented yeast
May I take Qualia and MCT oil without any bad interactions?
With limited resources I am torn between purchasing Qualia Mind and BioTrōpic AFA
Ben any opinions if you had to choose which one would be more beneficial?
Apples and oranges man. Do you want to optimize energy and mental performance (Qualia Mind) or increase endurance and speed recovery (BioTropic AFA)?
Really awesome podcast. I have two children with levers congenital amorosis (LCA). Does any of your blindness research leach into that field. My boy is 20 and my girl is 11. Love to hear any feedback! Thx
Thank you for the kind words. Our current trial is focused on Glaucoma but we may expand to include other conditions in the future. Leber’s is high on our list for a patient pool to address. You can reach me at [email protected] for updates.
Best wishes,
Andrew
How can you find out more about the vision trials? My wife has glaucoma and I have tried to contact your lab but have not heard anything back. Is there any other way to get information on it? I have been following your work on vision restoration as well as your work state change. Very impressive work and could change people’s lives. Thank you for all your hard work on these important issues
Discount code GREENFIELD18 is not working for:
Qualia Mind Auto Renew x 1 $89.00
Every 4 Weeks
$89 first shipment, $119 thereafter, cancel anytime.
Hi John! The discount is only valid for first time purchasers. Is it your first purchase? Also possible the discount isn't avail on auto-renew…… If you contact customer support at Neurohacker and mention Ben Greenfield they will get to the bottom of this for you. https://neurohacker.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests…
Ben,
You may have a typo for the above discount code of GREENFIELD18
since your podcast mentions that the discount code is GREENFIELD2018
verified that GREENFIELD2018 works as an alternative to GREENFIELD18
Thanks man, got that fixed.
Guys, awesome show. My question is when I take Advil cold and sinus I have the most profound nootropic effect. I get a sense of alertness and calmness mixed with euphoria. I have tried a lot notropics like provigil/nuvigal, Adderall, etc. nothing works as well as Advil cold and sinus, Why? And is there anything out there that has similar ingredients minus the decongestant and is safe to take on occasion?
That nootropic effect you’re getting is from the decongestant. It’s a stimulant related to amphetamine.