Science & Tools of Learning & Memory | Dr. David Eagleman

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 30.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2026

⏱️ 144 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. David Eagleman, PhD, is a neuroscientist, bestselling author and professor at Stanford University. We discuss how to leverage the science of neuroplasticity to learn new skills and information and how accurate and false memories form and are forgotten. We also discuss time perception and why it speeds up or slows down depending on our age and stress level. We cover dreaming and the meaning of visual and other dream content. And we discuss the neuroscience of cultural and political polarization and how to remedy it. This episode provides science-based knowledge and practical tools you can use to enhance learning and better understand your experience of life in the past, present and future. Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Mateina: https://drinkmateina.com/offer Rorra: https://rorra.com/huberman Lingo: https://hellolingo.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) David Eagleman (00:02:35) Neuroplasticity & Learning; Cortex, Flexibility & Repurposing, Savantism (00:11:07) Sponsors: Mateina & Rorra (00:13:27) Specialization vs Diversification, Practice; Internet & Curiosity (00:22:05) Building a Well-Rounded Brain, Tool: Critical Thinking & Creativity (00:28:18) Neuroplasticity & Adults, Tools: Novelty & Challenge (00:32:41) Neuromodulators & Plasticity, Psychedelics; Directed Plasticity (00:38:50) Sponsor: AG1 (00:39:41) Building a Better Future Self, Tool: Ulysses Contract to Avoid Bad Behaviors (00:50:13) Brain Chatter, Aphantasia & Practice (00:56:57) Specialization vs Diverse Experience, Childhood & Brain (01:00:50) Space & Time Perception, Tool: Space-Time Bridging Meditation (01:06:17) Are We Good at Estimating Time?; Fear, Time & Memory (01:11:23) Sponsor: Lingo (01:12:53) Fearful Situations & Time Perception; Joyful Events & Novelty, Tool: Do Things Differently (01:18:56) Staying in the Present, Mental Illness & Time Domains, Addiction (01:27:09) Social Media, Addiction, Curiosity (01:30:51) Vision & Auditory Deficits, Sensory Substitution, Neosensory Wristband (01:35:26) Sponsor: Function (01:37:13) Sensory Reliance, Echolocation, Potato Head Theory, Sensory Addition (01:41:36) Why We Dream, Vision & Neuroplasticity, REM Sleep, Blindness (01:49:55) Victims, Fear, Memory Drift & Recall, Eyewitness Testimony & Jury Education (01:56:10) Kids vs Adults, Memory Manipulation; Photos (01:59:27) Polarization, In vs Out Groups, Empathy; Fairness (02:06:31) Polarization, Reward vs Punishment; Propaganda, Language, Complexification (02:19:27) Current Projects; Acknowledgements (02:21:44) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Oftentimes people will ask me, like an older person, will say, hey, I do crossword puzzles.
0:04.3	Is that good?
0:05.3	Yeah, it's good until you get good at it.
0:07.3	And then stop and do something that you're not good at.
0:09.9	And constantly find the next thing that's a real challenge for you.
0:13.8	That's the key thing about plasticity.
0:16.7	Your brain is locked in silence and darkness.
0:19.1	It's trying to make a model of the outside world.
0:21.6	And if you're constantly pushing and challenging it with things it doesn't understand, then it'll keep changing.
0:27.0	Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:35.7	I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.
0:42.3	My guest today is Dr. David Eagleman. Dr. David Eagleman is a neuroscientist, a best-selling author, and a long-time science public educator.
0:50.3	Today we discuss several different features of brain science that impact your everyday life.
0:55.5	And once you understand the mechanisms behind these features, it will position you to make better
1:00.2	decisions and if you choose to rewire your brain to be a more effective learner. We start by discussing
1:06.2	neuroplasticity, which is your brain's ability to change in response to experience or any form of deliberate
1:12.8	learning that you are trying to impose on yourself.
1:15.4	We talk about the mechanisms for it and how you can get better at learning and unlearning
1:19.6	in the context of skills and information.
1:22.3	We also discuss memory formation and the relationship between stress and time perception
1:27.4	and why it is that
1:28.3	people experience things in slow motion if those things are very stressful or traumatic
	...

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