Dr. Nolan Williams: Psychedelics & Neurostimulation for Brain Rewiring

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2022

⏱️ 166 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, my guest is Nolan Williams, M.D., a triple board-certified psychiatrist, neurologist and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab. We discuss clinical applications for brain stimulation, behavioral protocols and novel drug treatments to halt and reverse mental health disorders, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We first discuss the neural circuits for self-identity and mood and stress control. We discuss Dr. Williams’ work using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to depression, trauma, PTSD, and other mood disorders. We then dive deep into the history, biology, modern use, and safety margins of the various psychedelics, including MDMA, LSD, ketamine, ibogaine, ayahuasca, and psilocybin, as well as cannabis and the use of SSRIs in both adults and children. Finally, we discuss behavioral treatments for mental health disorders, including sleep and sleep deprivation, light exposure, exercise, and training to control the brain-heart-rate pathways. Regardless of age, all those interested in mental health should benefit from the incredible breadth and depth of Dr. Williams’ knowledge and the clarity with which he conveys that information. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Dr. Nolan Williams, Brain Stimulation & Depression Treatment (00:03:31) Huberman Lab Premium (00:04:42) InsideTracker, Eight Sleep, ROKA (00:08:37) Momentous Supplements (00:09:16) Depression, Risk Factors, Emergency Psychiatric Treatments (00:15:11) The Brain-Heart Connection, Vagus Nerve, Prefrontal Cortex (00:17:51) Right vs. Left Brain Hemispheres & Mood Balance, Connectome (00:22:34) Heart Rate & Depression, Behavioral Interventions, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) (00:33:02) Prefrontal Cortex & Cognitive Control, TMS (00:37:46) AG1 (Athletic Greens) (00:39:00) Belief/Identity “Rules”, Re-scripting, TMS & Talk Therapy (00:45:49) Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex, TMS & Depression Treatment (00:48:36) Cingulate Cortex & Emotion, Dissociation & Catatonia (00:54:27) Ketamine, the Opioid System & Depression; Psychedelic Experience or Biology? (01:03:42) SSRIs, Serotonin & Depression; Childhood, Chemical Imbalance or Circuit? (01:13:58) Memories & “Rule” Creation; Psilocybin & “Rule” Resolution (01:21:00) MDMA & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Treatment, Psilocybin & Depression Treatment (01:24:12) Is MDMA Neurotoxic?, Drug Purity, Dopamine Surges, Post-MDMA Prolactin (01:30:38) Psilocybin, Brain Connectivity & Depression Treatment (01:34:53) Exposure Response Prevention: “Letting Go” & Depression Treatment (01:41:23) Normal Spectrums for Mental Health Disorders (01:45:35) Ibogaine & “Life Review”; PTSD, Depression & Clinical Trials (01:57:16) Clinical Use of Psychedelics (02:01:59) Ayahuasca, Brazilian Prisoner Study (02:06:55) Cannabis: THC, CBD & Psychosis, Clinical Uses (02:14:52) Personal Relative Drug Risk & Alcohol (02:20:42) Circadian Reset for Depression, Sleep Deprivation, Light (02:28:43) Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy (SNT) Study (02:34:25) Space Learning Theory & TMS Stimulation (02:45:35) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Huberman Lab Premium, Neural Network Newsletter, Social Media Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:08.8	I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and
0:12.5	Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today my guest is Dr. Nolan Williams.
0:17.3	Dr. Williams is a medical doctor and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine.
0:24.3	His laboratory and clinic focus on depression and other mood disorders.
0:28.0	They focus specifically on the use of trans cranial magnetic stimulation, which is a brain stimulation technique that can either
0:35.8	activate or quiet specific brain circuits as well as circuits within the body in order to treat depression and other
0:42.3	mood disorders. Other laboratories and clinics use TMS.
0:46.2	What sets apart the work of Nolan Williams and colleagues is that they combine TMS with other treatments and some of those treatments are among the more cutting edge that you've probably heard about these days,
0:56.0	including Ibane, Silasibon, MDMA, cannabis, DMT, and other drugs that at this point in time are
1:04.8	experimental in terms of clinical trials, but that at least the preliminary data show hold a great promise for the treatment of depression and other mood disorders.
1:12.8	In the course of my discussion with Dr. Williams, we covered things such as the history of each of these drugs,
1:18.8	how they came to be and their current status in terms of their clinical use and legality.
1:23.4	We also talk about their safety profiles both in children and in adults.
1:27.6	And we talk about what the future of psychedelic research and clinical use really looks like.
1:33.0	For instance, we discuss how a number of laboratories and clinics are modifying psychedelics to remove some of their hallucinogenic properties while maintaining some of their
1:42.5	antidepressant or antitroma properties. You'll also learn about some fascinating research in Dr. Williams' laboratory,
1:48.2	focus on ketamine, which is a drug that is increasingly being used to treat depression.
1:53.5	And contrary to common belief, the effects of ketamine in terms of relieving depression may not actually arise from its dissociative effects.
2:01.9	One thing that you'll find extraordinary about Dr. Williams is that not only does he have vast knowledge of the various treatments for depression,
2:08.7	but that he and his laboratory are really combining these treatments in the most potent way.
2:13.3	That is, combining psychedelic treatments with brain machine interface or combining brain machine interface with particular learning protocols,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Scicomm Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Scicomm Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.