How Your Brain’s Reward Circuits Drive Your Choices | Dr. Robert Malenka

This section of the episode develops the topic through the following source points: This transcript version is not in its final form and will be updated. Andrew Huberman: Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. [OPENING THEME MUSIC] I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, my guest is Dr. Robert Malenka. Dr. Robert Malenka is a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is both medical doctor, an MD, and a researcher, a PhD. His laboratory is famous for having discovered some of the key components allowing neuroplasticity, that is, the nervous system's ability to change in response to experience. In addition, Dr. Malanka's research is considered central to the textbook knowledge about how reward systems in the brain are organized and function. Indeed, Dr. Melanca's research over the last ten or 15 years has merged what was once two disparate fields, the first being the study of neuroplasticity, again, the nervous system's ability to change in response to experience, and the other field being the field of dopamine as it relates to pleasure and addiction. His laboratory has shown, for instance, that when we seek out particular forms of pleasure, regardless of whether or not they are healthy for us, that changes the way that our reward circuitry works and actually changes the way that dopamine is released and how it impacts the brain. And his work has also informed how we seek out healthy pleasures, including healthy food and social connection. Today's discussion explores all of these topics, and by the end of today's discussion, you will have a rich understanding of how neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin work in parallel, to reinforce that is, to increase the probability that we will engage in certain types of thinking and behaviors. So if you are somebody interested in neuroplasticity, that is, how the nervous system can change in response to experience and or you are interested in reward systems, what motivates us, and what we are likely to pursue in the future, given our choices of past, and if you are interested in things like social connection and empathy, or lack thereof, today's discussion encompasses all of those topics. It is worth mentioning that Dr. Malenka is a true luminary in all of the fields I just mentioned, as well as several other fields. In fact, when you look out on the landscape of modern neuroscience, what you'll discover is that a very large percentage of the top laboratories studying neuroplasticity and reward systems and so on, all stemmed from having trained in Dr. Malenka's laboratory. So it's a real honor and pleasure to be able to host him today, and I'm sure that our discussion is going to greatly enrich the way that you think about brain function, neuroplasticity, and reward.