Essentials: Science of Building Strong Social Bonds with Family, Friends & Romantic Partners

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I discuss the science of social connection and how we form meaningful bonds with others. I explore the neural basis for "social homeostasis"—our drive for a certain amount of social interaction—which explains why we feel lonely, seek connection and how we navigate social hierarchies. I also explain how the brain and neurochemicals, such as oxytocin and dopamine, shape our relationships from infancy through adulthood and underlie traits like introversion and extroversion. The episode also offers practical insights into forming deeper connections and how shared experiences with others enhance social bonding. Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AGZ by AG1: https://drinkagz.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman David: https://davidprotein.com/huberman Timestamps 0:00 Social Connection 1:10 Social Bonds, Social Isolation & Stress Hormones 3:09 Sponsor: LMNT 4:42 Brain & Social Homeostasis; Social Hierarchies & Flexibility 9:14 Dopamine & Pro-Social Behaviors; Chronic Social Isolation & Introversion 11:04 Introverts vs Extroverts, Dopamine & Social Homeostasis; Context 13:08 Loneliness, Dorsal Raphe Nucleus & Social Hunger 14:18 Key Takeaway: Introvert vs Extrovert & Dopamine 15:23 Social Bonds & Physiological Synchrony, Tool: Shared Experiences 18:19 Sponsor: AGZ by AG1 19:48 Right- vs Left-Brained Attachment, Parent & Child, Unconscious Mind 24:30 Friends & Romantic Partners, Emotional & Cognitive Empathy 27:52 Sponsor: David 29:09 Oxytocin & Social Connection 31:39 Tool: Emotional & Cognitive Empathy 32:54 Introverts, Extroverts & Social Interaction 33:48 Break-Ups; Key Takeaways Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Huberman Lab Essentials, where we revisit past episodes for the most potent and actionable
0:05.8	science-based tools for mental health, physical health, and performance. I'm Andrew Huberman,
0:12.7	and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today's
0:17.8	episode is about the biology, psychology, and practices of social bonding. From the day we are born until the day we die, the quality of our social bonds dictates much of our quality of life. It should therefore be no surprise that our brain and indeed much of our entire nervous system is wired for social bonds. Today we are going
0:39.7	to talk about those brain and nervous system circuitries. We are also going to talk about the
0:44.1	neurochemicals and hormones that underlie their function. And we are going to touch on a number
0:49.6	of important and actionable tools that you can apply in everyday life. And I'm confident that you will come away from today's episode
0:57.3	with tremendous knowledge about how you function.
1:00.7	For instance, if you're an introvert or an extrovert,
1:03.2	why is that?
1:03.7	Turns out there may be a neurochemical basis for that.
1:06.2	Believe it or not, there's biology around that now
1:08.3	and it's excellent peer reviewed work.
1:10.2	Now an important feature of biology generally,
1:12.6	but in particular as it relates to social bonding,
1:15.5	is that the neural circuits,
1:18.3	meaning the brain areas and neurons and the hormones,
1:21.4	things like oxytocin, which we'll talk about today,
1:24.1	and the other chemicals in the brain and body
1:26.8	that are responsible for the process we call social bonding
1:30.0	are not unique to particular social bonds.
1:33.8	They are generic.
	...

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