Essentials: How to Control Your Sense of Pain & Pleasure

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I explore the sensations of pain and pleasure, explaining how they are sensed in the body and interpreted by the brain as well as methods to control their intensity.

I discuss both the hardwired mechanisms and subjective factors that shape an individual’s perception of pain and pleasure. I also explain why pain thresholds vary from person to person and discuss various treatments for pain management such as acupuncture and supplements. Finally, I explain the role of key neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin in mediating our experience of pain and pleasure.

Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com.

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Timestamps

00:00:00 Pain & Pleasure

00:00:39 Skin, Appetitive vs Aversive Behaviors

00:02:10 Skin, Neurons & Brain

00:04:46 Brain Interpretation, Homunculus, Two-Point Discrimination Test

00:07:43 Pain & Pleasure, Subjective Interpretation

00:09:53 Sponsor: AG1

00:11:30 Tool: Pain & Expectation

00:13:08 Pain Threshold

00:14:46 Heat & Cold, Tool: Moving into Cold or Hot Environments

00:16:37 Subjective Pain, Psychosomatic, Fibromyalgia, Whole Body Pain, Acetyl-L-carnitine

00:20:54 Acupuncture, Electroacupuncture, Pain Management

00:23:44 Sponsors: LMNT & Eight Sleep

00:26:36 Red Heads & Pain Threshold, Endorphins

00:28:32 Improving Pain Threshold, Dopamine

00:30:00 Pleasure, Dopamine, Serotonin; Depression, Anti-depressants

00:34:12 Pleasure & Pain Balance, Dopamine, Addiction

00:36:08 Recap & Key Takeaways

Disclaimer & Disclosures

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