AMP #302 The New Human Operating Manual with Dr. Andrew Huberman

Avoid bright light exposure from 10 PM to 4 AM ... There are studies showing that bright light exposure in the middle of the night punishes you by suppressing dopamine the next day and the next day.

We learn best when we are focused and alert, but not too stressed, and then when we we cycle that with periods of deep rest.

The person who decides to dabble with nicotine—not by smoking, but taking nicotine for focus—if you can't handle and manage your mind in a very alert state, it's just going to make things worse. You'll think that you're in a tunnel of focus, but you actually are in a tunnel of high stress, and nothing good comes out of that.

If the dopamine system is too active for too long, it creates this progressive narrowing of the things that bring us pleasure. That's how I define addictions—progressive narrowing of the things that bring us pleasure.

We do not teach people how to operate their mind and body, and it leads to all sorts of problems—stress, anxiety disorders, ADD ... There is no guidebook for social interactions, for sexual development ... It's a huge problem.

Genes don't control behavior; nervous systems control behavior. Genes don't program behavior; they program nervous systems and hormones and bodies and stuff so that behavior can happen.