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Huberman Lab

Dr. Robert Sapolsky: Science of Stress, Testosterone & Free Will | Episode 35

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.826.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2021

⏱️ 91 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, I interview Dr. Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Neurology & Neurosurgery at Stanford University. We discuss stress, what defines short-term versus long-term stress, and how stress can be beneficial or detrimental, depending on the context. We also discuss stress mitigation and how our sense of control over stress mitigation techniques, including exercise, determine health outcomes. Dr. Sapolsky explains some of the key effects of the hormone testosterone — how it can amplify pre-existing tendencies for aggression or sexual behavior, but that it does not produce those behaviors per se. He also explains how testosterone impacts our social hierarchies, sense of confidence, and willingness to embrace challenges of different kinds. He also explains how our behaviors and perceptions shape testosterone levels. And we discuss estrogen and the powerful role it plays in brain development, health and longevity. Finally, we discuss free will, what it means to have free will, and if we have any free will, including how knowledge alone might allow us to make better decisions for ourselves and society. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/huberman Maui Nui: https://mauinuivenison.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com Timestamps (00:00:00) Introduction: Dr. Robert Sapolsky (00:02:26) Sponsors (00:06:30) Stress: Short & Long-Term, Good & Bad (00:09:11) Valence & Amygdala (00:11:00) Testosterone: Common Myths vs. Actual Truths (00:15:15) Behaviors that Affect Testosterone (00:17:20) Mindsets & Contexts that Affect Testosterone (00:20:28) How Finger Length Ratios Reflect Prenatal Hormone Levels (00:22:30) Aggression: Male-Female, Female-Male, & Female-Female (00:24:05) Testosterone: The Challenge Hypothesis (00:29:20) How Dopamine Impacts Testosterone & Motivation (00:32:32) Estrogen: Improves Brain & Longevity BUT TIMING IS KEY (00:39:40) Are Testosterone & Sperm Counts in Males Really Dropping? (00:42:15) Stress Mitigation & Our Sense of Control (00:51:35) How Best to Buffer Stress (00:57:04) Power of Perception, Choice & Individual Differences (01:00:32) Context-Setting, Prefrontal Cortex & Hierarchy (01:11:20) How Dr. Sapolsky Accomplishes Deep Thinking (01:13:17) Do We Have Free Will? (01:20:50) How to Apply Knowledge & Learning (01:23:44) Robert’s New Book: “Determined: The Science of Life Without Free Will” (01:28:27) Reflections, Support of Podcast, & Supporting Stress Research Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to the Uberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.

0:09.0

I'm Andrew Uberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

0:15.0

Today I have the pleasure of introducing Dr. Robert Sapolsky. Dr. Sapolsky is a professor of biology and neurosurgery at Stanford University.

0:23.0

His laboratory has worked on a large variety of topics including stress, hormones including testosterone and estrogen,

0:31.0

and how the different members of a given species interact according to factors like hormones, hierarchy within primate troops,

0:39.0

and how things like stress, reproduction, and competition impact behavior.

0:45.0

One of the things that makes Dr. Sapolsky's work so unique is that it combines elements from primatology including field studies,

0:52.0

with human behavior, in essence, trying to unveil how humans as old world primates are controlled by different elements of our biology as well as our psychology.

1:03.0

Dr. Sapolsky is also a prolific author of popular books such as Wisebres Donket Alcers, the trouble with testosterone, and behave the biology of humans at our best and worst.

1:15.0

During the course of our discussion today, Robert also revealed to me that he is close to completing a new book entitled Determined, The Science of Life Without Free Will,

1:25.0

and indeed we discuss the science of life without free will during this episode.

1:29.0

We also discuss stress and how best to control stress and how stress controls us at both conscious and subconscious levels.

1:38.0

We talk about testosterone and estrogen and hormone replacement therapy and how those impact our mind, our psychology, and our interactions with others.

1:47.0

As with any discussion with Dr. Sapolsky, we learn about scientific mechanisms that make us who we are.

1:53.0

And today we also discuss tools and how we can leverage those scientific mechanisms in order to be better versions of ourselves.

2:00.0

I should mention that unlike most guest interviews on the Huberman Lab podcast, this one had to be carried out remotely due to various constraints.

2:07.0

So you may hear the occasional audio artifact. Please excuse that. We felt that the value of a conversation with Dr. Sapolsky was well worth those minor minor glitches.

2:18.0

And indeed the information that he delivers us is tremendously valuable, interesting, and in many cases actionable as well.

2:25.0

I'm pleased to announce that the Huberman Lab podcast is now partnered with momentous supplements.

2:29.0

We partnered with momentous for several important reasons.

2:32.0

First of all, they ship internationally because we know that many of you are located outside of the United States.

2:37.0

Second of all, and perhaps most important, the quality of their supplements is second to none, both in terms of purity and precision of the amounts of the ingredients.

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