How Emotions & Social Factors Impact Learning | Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

(instrumental music) Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, my guest is Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. Dr. Immordino-Yang is a professor of education, psychology, and neuroscience at the University of Southern California. Her laboratory focuses on emotions and the role of emotions in learning, as well as how social interactions impact how we learn. Today's discussion is one that I found absolutely fascinating, because it will reveal to you, in fact all of us, how our temperament, that is our emotionality, combined with our home environment and the school environments that we were raised in shape what we know about the world and our concepts of self. In thinking about that, we also discuss the education system and how different aspects of rules and how we are told to behave and what actually constitutes good behavior or bad behavior shape how we learn information and develop a sense of meaning in life. If any of that sounds abstract, I promise you that today's discussion is incredibly practical. You will learn, for instance, how different styles of learning are going to favor different people, from children into adulthood, and how we ought to think about learning in terms of our emotional systems being our guide for what we learn and the information that we retain and how we apply that information throughout life. For those of you that are parents or who are thinking of becoming parents or who were once children, so I believe that encompasses everybody out there, today's discussion will arm you with an intellectual understanding of psychology and neuroscience as it relates to learning, but also practical tools that you can apply in order to be able to learn more effectively. What I like so much about Dr. Immordino-Yang's research and the discussion today is that she frames up beautifully how those who best learn from traditional forms of classroom learning as well as those who learn from non-traditional forms of learning, either in or out of the classroom, can best use that understanding of self in order to learn in the way that is best for them. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep makes smart mattress covers with cooling, heating, and sleep tracking capacity. I've talked many times before on this podcast about the fact that sleep is the foundation of mental health, physical health, and performance of all kinds. One of the key things to getting a great night's sleep is the temperature of your sleeping environment, and that's because your core body temperature actually has to drop by about one to three degrees in order for you to get into and stay deeply asleep. And conversely, your core body temperature increases by about one to three degrees in order for you to wake up and feel refreshed. With Eight Sleep, you can control the temperature of your sleeping environment very easily because of the way that the mattress cover communicates with an app where you can dial in the temperature of your sleeping environment at the beginning, middle, and end of your night as you arrive toward morning. Sleeping on an Eight Sleep mattress cover has greatly enhanced the quality of my sleep. I know that because it also includes a sleep tracker which will tell you how much slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep you're getting and it gives you a sleep score. If you'd like to try Eight Sleep, go to eightsleep.com/huberman and get up to $150 off. Eight Sleep currently ships in the USA, Canada, UK, select countries in the EU, and Australia. Again, that's eightsleep.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by HVMN Ketone IQ. Ketone IQ is a ketone supplement that increases blood ketones. I know most people are familiar with or at least have heard of the so-called ketogenic diet. It's used for weight loss, it's used to control epilepsy, it's used for mental health reasons. However, most people, including myself, do not follow a ketogenic diet. Nonetheless, increasing your blood ketones can improve the function of your brain and the function of your body, and that's because ketones are a preferred use of fuel for the brain and body. So even though I follow an omnivore diet, that is I'm not in a ketogenic state, I use Ketone IQ to increase my blood ketones prior to doing preparation for podcasts or writing grants or doing research, as well as prior to workouts. Especially if I want to work out fasted, I'll take some Ketone IQ to increase my blood ketones, which gives me a lot of energy during workouts or during bouts of cognitive work even if I haven't eaten in the preceding hours. It really increases my focus and my energy levels. If you'd like to try Ketone IQ, you can go to hvmn.com/huberman to save 20% off. Again, that's hvmn.com/huberman to save 20%. Today's episode is also brought to us by ROKA. ROKA makes eyeglasses and sunglasses that are of the absolute highest quality. The company was founded by two all-American swimmers from Stanford, and everything about ROKA eyeglasses and sunglasses were designed with performance in mind. I've spent a lifetime working on the biology of the visual system, and I can tell you that your visual system has to contend with an enormous number of different challenges in order for you to be able to see clearly. ROKA understands those challenges and has designed their eyeglasses and sunglasses accordingly so that you always see with perfect clarity. Their eyeglasses and sunglasses were initially designed for sports performance, and as a consequence, they are very lightweight, which is great. They also won't slip off your face if you get sweaty. However, even though they were designed for sports performance, they now also include a lot of styles that are designed to be worn to work, out to dinner, essentially recreationally, so that you could wear anywhere. If you'd like to try ROKA eyeglasses or sunglasses, go to ROKA, that's roka.com and enter the code "Huberman" to save 20% off your order. Again, that's ROKA, roka.com and enter the code "Huberman" at checkout. And now for my discussion with Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. Dr. Immordino-Yang.