Dr. Andrew Huberman, Ph.D. is a Professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine. His lab focuses on neural regeneration, neuroplasticity, and brain states such as stress, focus, fear, and optimal performance.
In this this episode of Huberman Lab, Dr. Huberman explains what stress is and how our brain uses it in good and bad ways to react. Dr. Huberman reviews the three types of stress, relationship between stress and immune system functions, and tools to manage and prevent long term stress, burnout, and anxiety.
Host: Andrew Huberman (@hubermanlab)
The heart of stress lies at whether our internal experience and external experience align
All species experience stress
Stress is a generic system used to mobilize other systems in the brain and body to respond
Systems for stress are genetically encoded which means we have the power to control them
Stressors: psychological (difficulty balancing work and social life) or physical (out in the cold without a jacket) things which stress us out
Stress: the psychological and physiological response to stressors
The stress system doesn’t distinguish between physiological and psychological stressors
The neurons that control stress run from the neck to naval
A chain of neurons becomes activated in response to stressor and release acetylcholine (which is otherwise used to move muscles)
Neurons release epinephrine which either activates things that need to respond to stressor – and – activates receptors on things we don’t need to calm them
Stress response: (1) generic; (2) pushes what we need, turns off what we don’t need; (3) stimulates body to move to action or say something
The best real-time tools to reduce stress will impact the autonomic nervous system
The parasympathetic nervous system has certain levers we can use to push back on the nervous system
It’s hard to control the mind, using the mind – if we’re stressed or tired it’s difficult to channel gratitude, peace, other important mind mechanisms
By using the body instead of the brain, we’ll be able to free the mind to speak more clearly, control muscles of face and jaw, and generally relax
In stress or high alertness, we want to leverage the fact that we can control our diaphragm and breathing
When you inhale, diaphragm moves down, and heart gets larger, so blood moves slower
This sends a signal to the brain to speed up heart rate
To increase heart rate – inhale longer and/or more vigorous than exhale
When you exhale, diaphragm moves up, heart gets smaller and more compact, so blood moves more quickly
This sends a signal to the brain to slow down heart rate
To slow heart rate down – exhale longer and/or more vigorous than inhale
Fastest method to calm down in real time: physiological sigh (this is not breath work) – there’s a real relationship between brain, body, diaphragm, and heart
Physiological sigh: two inhales through the nose followed by an extended exhale through the mouth
What doesn’t work: telling yourself (or others) to calm down
Nasal breathing is more advantageous than mouth breathing in many cases
For physiological sigh, it’s most ideal to inhale through the nose, exhale through mouth – but if that’s not feasible it’s ok through the mouth
Books on breathing: Breath by James Nestor
Acute stress is good for the immune system
Signs of short-term stress: dilation of pupils, changes in optics of eyes, increase in heart rate, sharpening of cognition, narrow but sharp focus to respond at the moment
Stress often comes in the form of bacterial or viral infection so the body’s response is to release epinephrine/adrenaline to combat infection
When adrenaline is released in the body it liberates killer cells from immune organs to combat and suppress incoming infection
Note about Tummo or Wim Hof style breathing: this is basically rapid, deliberate hyperventilation – this will make you feel alert and liberate adrenaline
Procrastination is how we turn on short-term stress and cue our body to work
If you are no longer able to sleep, you are leaving “good” short-term stress and entering harmful long-term stress
Medium-stress lasts anywhere from several days to several weeks
A lot of managing stress is about raising capacity
The goal of managing stress: be calm of mind when the body is activated
Stress threshold: ability to cognitively regulate what is happening in mind and body
Method to manage medium-term stress: place yourself deliberately in a situation of stress (sprint, cold shower, fast bike, etc.) and make your mind comfortable with the response
Relax the mind while the body is active so what once felt like a lot, becomes manageable
Use body to bring up the level of activation then dissociate the physical response – you will become more comfortable at higher activation states
Stress has its benefits but long-term stress is bad
Chronic stress leads to heart disease because of the way adrenaline impacts blood vessels
Things we know to mitigate long-term stress: regular exercise, enough sleep, social connection
Social connection mitigates long-term stress by leveraging serotonin which has positive effects on the immune system and connections in the brain
Social connection can be to other people, romantic, plutonic, pets – and even just attachment to things we take joy in seeing or participating in
The body secretes higher levels of tachykinin when we are not socially connected enough