Huberman Lab Podcast: Science & Tools of Learning & Memory | Dr. David Eagleman

Date: January 26, 2026
Host: Andrew Huberman, Ph.D.
Guest: Dr. David Eagleman, Neuroscientist & Author

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the latest neuroscience on learning, memory, and brain plasticity with Dr. David Eagleman—renowned neuroscientist, prolific science communicator, and author. Together, Dr. Huberman and Dr. Eagleman explore the mechanisms underlying neuroplasticity, how it shapes our perceptions and behaviors, the dynamics of memory and time perception, practical tools for optimizing brain adaptability, the dangers and promise of AI and technology for learning, the roots of polarization, and much more. Throughout, listeners are given actionable strategies for harnessing their own brain’s ability to change, as well as fascinating stories and research findings that underscore the mysteries—and the practical realities—of the human mind.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Neuroplasticity: The Brain's Capacity for Change

• Conceptualization ([03:23]):

  • Eagleman describes neuroplasticity as "Mother Nature’s big trick"—we’re born with a "half-baked brain" that the world finishes wiring through experience.
  • Humans’ brains remain incredibly plastic compared to other animals, allowing for culture, language, and generational progress.

• Key Quote:

  • "Your brain is constantly reconfiguring itself every second of your life...like little creatures slithering around, searching and unplugging. That’s what makes us absorb every single thing in our worlds." —Dr. Eagleman ([04:00])

• Cortical Flexibility ([06:31]):

  • The cortex’s “one trick”: It can process any input, depending on which sensory cable is plugged in. Sensory regions are flexible—if visual input is absent, “unused” cortex is repurposed (e.g., tactile or auditory skills in the blind).

• Savantism & Real Estate in the Brain ([09:30]):

  • Eagleman notes that extraordinary abilities may arise when brain regions are disproportionately devoted to one task (e.g., prodigies, savants).

2. Learning, Specialization, and the Value of Novelty

• Early Specialization vs. Diversification ([13:28]):

  • Huberman references a study showing that early specialization doesn’t necessarily lead to greater long-term success; more diverse early experiences may be better for development.
  • Eagleman discusses "burning things into the hardware" through repeated practice versus the benefits of broader learning.

• Language & Music ([18:23]):

  • Eagleman’s anecdote about his father learning languages for love demonstrates how reward and motivation trigger neurotransmitters that support plasticity.

• Curiosity and Internet-Aided Learning ([18:55]):

  • Access to information in the moment of curiosity enhances retention and plasticity.
  • “Brain plasticity really happens when you have the right cocktail of neurotransmitters present. And that cocktail happens to map onto curiosity or engagement.” —Dr. Eagleman ([19:30])

• Maximizing Human Potential ([23:26]):

  • Advice: “Try to maximize along every axis” (athletics, academics, social, creative).
  • Eagleman underscores teaching critical thinking and creativity as the core future-proofing skills. He proposes AI could help personalize debate and foster these abilities.

3. Tools & Techniques to Improve Plasticity

• Extending the Window of Plasticity ([29:01]):

  • “Two words: seek novelty. That’s the whole game.” —Dr. Eagleman ([29:03])
  • When you master a task (e.g., crossword puzzles), switch to something you’re bad at, seek continual challenge. This keeps the brain changing and forming new connections.

• Notable Study:

  • The "Religious Orders Study": Despite having Alzheimer’s, some nuns showed no cognitive deficits due to active, engaged lifestyles, highlighting how continuous novelty and social challenge build cognitive “reserve” ([30:10]).

• Neural Chemistry of Challenge ([32:03]):

  • Huberman: The agitation felt when learning something new is the signal to the brain that “this is different,” driving plasticity via neuromodulators (adrenaline, dopamine, acetylcholine, etc.).

• Directed vs. Indiscriminate Plasticity ([38:06]):

  • Eagleman warns, “If you could take some cocktail of neurotransmitters and get total plasticity of your brain, I don’t think you’d want that. You wouldn’t be you anymore.”

4. Time Perception & Memory

• The Movie Theater of the Mind ([40:21]):

  • Humans’ capacity for simulating possible futures (Ulysses Contract) is unique, enabled by the prefrontal cortex.
  • “You spend most of your time not in the here and now. We’re reminiscing about the past and simulating the future. But this is great. This is what makes us able to do all things humans do successfully.” —Dr. Eagleman ([40:43])

• Ulysses Contracts & Self-Control ([44:29]):

  • Setting up constraints for your future self (through accountability, friction, or penalties) is a powerful way to ensure good habits and avoid temptations (e.g., locking up your phone, social pressure, money-based commitments).
  • “I don’t think we can trust our future selves...it’s worth setting into place some walls.” —Dr. Eagleman ([47:27])

• Memory Distortion & Plasticity ([110:41]):

  • Even intense, traumatic memories are unstable and prone to suggestion/manipulation over time, which creates challenges for legal systems.
  • Planting suggestions can alter eyewitness confidence and accuracy (mole-on-the-cheek classroom demonstration).

• Time Perception under Stress ([68:23]):

  • In terrifying situations (e.g., car accident), people remember time as slowed—but this is not due to faster perception, rather "more dense" memory encoding by the amygdala.
  • “People do not see any faster in a life-threatening situation...it’s all a trick of memory.” —Dr. Eagleman ([68:41])

Timestamps on Time Perception

• [65:13] — Huberman’s "space-time meditation": shifting focus from bodily sensation to cosmic scale as a perceptual/time-flexibility exercise.
• [71:18] — The experience of time speeding up with age: “If we really attend to things and write down memories...we can seem as though we’ve lived longer.” —Dr. Eagleman ([77:00])

5. Technological Transformation and Learning

• AI in Education ([24:39]):
  • AI can personalize the learning pace, foster debate, and teach critical thinking.
• Sensory Substitution & Brain Adaptability ([91:11]):
  • Eagleman describes creating devices (e.g. wristbands, tongue interfaces) that allow deaf or blind individuals to “hear” or “see” through other senses; the brain readily adapts as long as it’s engaged and challenged.
• Sensory Addition (e.g., compass belt for north) and Mr. Potato Head Theory ([98:27], [100:38]):
  • “Whatever senses you plug into a brain, it’ll figure out what to do with that information.”

6. Dreams and Brain Defense

• Theory of Dreaming as Visual Cortex Defense ([102:21]):
  • Eagleman’s theory: REM sleep/dreaming evolved to defend the visual cortex from being “invaded” by other senses during darkness (when visual input ceases).
  • The more plastic the brain, the more REM/dream sleep required (esp. in infancy/humans).
  • “Dreams are the brain’s way of defending visual cortex against takeover from other senses.” —Dr. Eagleman ([102:59])

7. Social Neuroscience, Polarization, and Empathy

• Ingroup/Outgroup Neuroscience ([122:03]):

  • fMRI studies show stronger empathy for one’s own group (even if arbitrarily assigned) and dulled empathy for outgroups; affects even low-level pain response.

• The Dangers of Dehumanization ([130:54]):

  • Comparison of 20th-century atrocities: Propaganda works by likening outgroups to animals (“cockroaches,” “pestilence”) to suppress empathy.
  • “I am essentially dedicating my life to this: To educate so when the next generation hears propaganda, they say, ‘Wait, I’ve heard that trick before.’”

• Toward Solutions: Cross-Cutting Connections ([134:09]):

  • History shows cross-cutting relationships (as in the Iroquois Confederacy) reduce polarization; Eagleman created a social media algorithm to highlight commonalities between people, fostering connection before differences.

8. Additional Highlights & Memorable Quotes

• Curiosity is the engine of plasticity:

  • “The brain’s main job is to save energy... plasticity is about burning things down to the hardware for efficiency.” ([15:27])

• On Social Media and Attention ([87:53]):

  • Eagleman is ambivalent: “Are we addicted? Yes. Is it an addiction because it’s better content than anything else? Yes. But people don’t seem happy after scrolling.”
  • Huberman: “Google Translate is not Google Relate.” ([18:30])

• On heartbreak and plasticity:

  • “Heartbreak is a really painful physiological thing you have to go through as your brain readjusts to the world without that person.” ([87:04])

Detailed Segment Timestamps

| Topic | Key Points | Timestamp | |-------|------------|-----------| | What is neuroplasticity? | Adaptability, absorption of culture, cortex as "one trick pony" | 03:23–06:00 | | Sensory substitution & brain real estate | Blindness/deafness, savantism, cortical flexibility | 08:54–11:07 | | Diversification vs. specialization in learning | Studies on early specialization, reward, bilingualism | 13:28–20:41 | | Curiosity and the Internet | Immediate reward strengthens memory | 18:55–21:20 | | Maximizing brain potential | Seek novelty, critical thinking, creativity | 23:26–24:39 | | Practical tools for plasticity | Novelty for aging brain, Religious Orders Study | 29:01–32:03 | | Chemistry of learning | Agitation, neuromodulators, directed plasticity | 32:03–37:25 | | Directed vs Indiscriminate Plasticity | Potential dangers, psychedelics analogy | 37:25–38:43 | | Simulating futures, Ulysses Contracts | Habit formation, lashing present Andrew for future Andrew | 40:21–49:00 | | Memory & law, unreliability of eyewitness testimony | Suggestibility, memory manipulation, operator game | 110:41–116:05 | | Time perception: stress, aging, and memory | Slow motion in trauma, child vs. adult time, novelty extends subjective time | 68:23–77:00 | | Dream theory | REM as defense of visual cortex, cross-species evidence | 102:21–108:19 | | Social & political polarization | fMRI pain studies, propaganda mechanisms, cross-cutting identities | 119:23–137:25 | | Bridging differences | Social algorithm to foster common ground | 134:09–137:25 |

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On how to keep your brain healthy:

  • “Seek novelty. That’s the whole game. Constantly challenge your brain.” —Dr. Eagleman ([29:01])

• On agitated learning:

  • “The agitation that one feels when learning something new...that’s the feedback signal to the brain that this is different than the stuff you know.” —Dr. Huberman ([32:03])

• On directed plasticity:

  • “Plasticity is not the goal. Directed plasticity is the goal.” —Dr. Eagleman ([38:06])

• On Ulysses Contracts:

  • “Your future self is a little different than who you are now. With time, we come to understand that our future self will act badly in certain situations, so we try to cut off those opportunities.”—Dr. Eagleman ([44:29])

• On time’s subjective passage:

  • “When you’re doing something novel, you’re writing down more memory. If you return from a weekend of new experiences, it feels as though you’ve lived longer.”—Dr. Eagleman ([77:00])

• On dreams:

  • “Dreams are the brain’s way of defending the visual cortex against takeover from the other senses.” —Dr. Eagleman ([102:59])

• On cultural polarization:

  • “It turns out we are wired very much, very strongly for in groups and out groups... the size of the empathic response, if it’s your in group, is enhanced; and if it’s any one of your out groups, it’s diminished.” ([122:30])

Practical Takeaways & Advice

• For stronger learning and memory:

  • Pursue activities outside your comfort zone—when mastered, switch to new challenges.
  • Cultivate critical thinking and creativity through debate, remix, and recombination.
  • Use curiosity as fuel—timely engagement with questions or topics enhances memory.
  • Use “Ulysses contracts” to set up productive habits and avoid pitfalls from your future, less-disciplined self.

• To feel like you’re living longer:

  • Seek novelty, vary routines, and pay deeper attention to experiences.
  • Rearranging your environment, traveling new routes, or varying habitual actions (e.g., brushing with your non-dominant hand) can enrich memory encoding.

• For mental health:

  • Build self-awareness of internal narratives and their limitations.
  • Recognize the innate neuroscience of in-group/out-group bias—actively seek connection and understanding across dividing lines.

Final Thoughts

David Eagleman and Andrew Huberman make the intricacies of neuroscience both accessible and actionable, intertwining foundational research and personal experience with wisdom for lifelong learning. Whether you’re interested in supercharging your memory, protecting your aging brain, grappling with time, or fostering understanding in a polarized world, this episode delivers research-backed guidance in the conversational, inquisitive style that defines the Huberman Lab.

For additional resources and links to Dr. David Eagleman’s books, research, and podcast (Inner Cosmos), see the show notes or visit the episode page.