The Science & Process of Healing from Grief | Huberman Lab Essentials

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I explain the neuroscience of grief, including how the brain maps relationships across three dimensions — space, time, and closeness — and why losing someone requires a remapping of those neural circuits. I describe how grief differs from depression, the role of oxytocin in driving yearning after a loss, and why people move through grief at different rates. I also discuss science-based tools for grieving adaptively, including how to access feelings of attachment while decoupling them from episodic memory. Finally, I explain how foundational biology — particularly sleep and cortisol rhythms — shapes our capacity to navigate the grieving process. Show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/RtAnILi Watch more Huberman Lab Essentials: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPNW_gerXa4OGNy1yE-W9IX-tPu-tJa7S&si=a1_sA7rUT-fE0OM5 Follow Huberman Lab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X: https://x.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter Timestamps 00:00:00 Grief 00:01:47 Myths of Grief, Kubler-Ross & fMRI 00:03:56 Brain Mapping Experiment, Proximity 00:07:05 Inferior Parietal Lobule; Space, Time & Closeness 00:09:20 Episodic Memory & Remapping After Loss 00:13:41 Tool: Dedicated Time, Counterfactual Thinking & Guilt 00:15:30 Oxytocin & Individual Differences in Grief 00:16:30 Prairie Voles, Monogamy & Nucleus Accumbens 00:21:58 Vagal Tone, Emotional Disclosure & Bereavement Writing Study 00:26:51 Cortisol Rhythms, Complicated Grief & Sunlight 00:30:57 Rational Grieving, Neuroplasticity & NSDR #hubermanlab #science #health #grief Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

Andrew Hubermanhost

May 28, 202635mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: May 28, 2026
Duration: 35m
Channel: Huberman Lab
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I explain the neuroscience of grief, including how the brain maps relationships across three dimensions — space, time, and closeness — and why losing someone requires a remapping of those neural circuits. I describe how grief differs from depression, the role of oxytocin in driving yearning after a loss, and why people move through grief at different rates. I also discuss science-based tools for grieving adaptively, including how to access feelings of attachment while decoupling them from episodic memory. Finally, I explain how foundational biology — particularly sleep and cortisol rhythms — shapes our capacity to navigate the grieving process. Show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/RtAnILi Watch more Huberman Lab Essentials: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPNW_gerXa4OGNy1yE-W9IX-tPu-tJa7S&si=a1_sA7rUT-fE0OM5 Follow Huberman Lab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X: https://x.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter Timestamps 00:00:00 Grief 00:01:47 Myths of Grief, Kubler-Ross & fMRI 00:03:56 Brain Mapping Experiment, Proximity 00:07:05 Inferior Parietal Lobule; Space, Time & Closeness 00:09:20 Episodic Memory & Remapping After Loss 00:13:41 Tool: Dedicated Time, Counterfactual Thinking & Guilt 00:15:30 Oxytocin & Individual Differences in Grief 00:16:30 Prairie Voles, Monogamy & Nucleus Accumbens 00:21:58 Vagal Tone, Emotional Disclosure & Bereavement Writing Study 00:26:51 Cortisol Rhythms, Complicated Grief & Sunlight 00:30:57 Rational Grieving, Neuroplasticity & NSDR #hubermanlab #science #health #grief Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

SPEAKERS

Andrew Huberman
host
Professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab podcast.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Huberman Lab, featuring Andrew Huberman, The Science & Process of Healing from Grief | Huberman Lab Essentials explores neuroscience-based grief model: remapping attachment across space, time, closeness Grief is framed as a biologically constrained process with a beginning, middle, and end that differs from depression despite overlapping symptoms.

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