How to Use Music to Boost Motivation, Mood & Improve Learning

In this episode, I describe how your brain and body are fundamentally wired to perceive and respond to music and how those responses can be leveraged to improve your mood, allow for processing sad emotions and enhance learning and performance. I explain the data showing how music can increase motivation for cognitive or physical work, what specific music has been shown to enhance cognitive performance, and whether silence or music is more effective in enhancing focus while studying. I also discuss how specific musical pieces can rapidly reduce anxiety, as well as certain prescription medications. I explain how listening to certain types of music can improve various health metrics (e.g., heart rate). Finally, I discuss how music helps to enhance neuroplasticity (rewiring of brain connections), thereby improving learning and memory. Whether you sing, play an instrument or enjoy listening to music, this episode provides numerous science-informed tools for using music to enhance productivity, mood, emotional states, and overall enjoyment of life. For show notes, including referenced articles and additional resources, please visit hubermanlab.com. Use Ask Huberman Lab, our new AI-powered platform, for a summary, clips, and insights from this episode. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Waking Up: https://wakingup.com/huberman Momentous: https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Music & Your Brain (00:03:32) The Brain Body Contract (00:03:49) Sponsors: LMNT & Waking Up (00:07:09) Music & Emotions; Brain & Body Interpretation (00:13:03) Music & Intent; Babies, Music & Movement (00:19:19) Tool: Health Metrics & Music, Breathing & Heart Rate (00:29:16) Sponsor: AG1 (00:30:50) Music, Brain & Predictions (00:38:07) Music & Brain: Novelty, Arousal, Memories (00:44:22) Tool: Movement; Motivation & Faster Music (00:50:49) Tool: Cognitive Work & Binaural Beats (00:54:11) Silence or Music for Studying?, White Noise, Binaural Beats (00:58:47) Tool: Retain Information & Internal Dialogue (01:00:53) Tool: Focus, Work Breaks & Music (01:04:11) Physical Exercise, Performance & Music (01:08:43) Music & Shifting Mood (01:14:41) “Happy” vs. “Sad” Music, “One-Hit Wonders” & Artificial Intelligence (01:19:30) “Bass Face”; Music, Movement & Facial Expressions (01:22:46) Tools: Shift to Happy Mood with Music; Sad Mood Catharsis (01:27:30) Tool: Music & Reducing Anxiety, “Weightless” (01:31:16) Playing Instruments, Singing & Brain Connectivity (01:39:58) Music & the Brain (01:42:14) Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

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Huberman Lab discusses neuroscience — how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the department of neurobiology, and by courtesy, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. He has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills and cognitive functioning.  Huberman is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Cogan Award, given to the scientist making the most significant discoveries in the study of vision, in 2017. His lab’s most recent work focuses on the influence of vision and respiration on human performance and brain states such as fear and courage. He also works on neural regeneration and directs a clinical trial to promote visual restoration in diseases that cause blindness. Huberman is also actively involved in developing tools now in use by the elite military in the U.S. and Canada, athletes, and technology industries to optimize performance in high stress environments, enhance neural plasticity, mitigate stress and optimize sleep.   Work from the Huberman Laboratory at Stanford School of Medicine has been published in top journals including Nature, Science and Cell and has been featured in TIME, BBC, Scientific American, Discover and other top media outlets.  In 2021, Dr. Huberman launched the Huberman Lab podcast. The podcast is frequently ranked in the top 5 of all podcasts globally and is often ranked #1 in the categories of Science, Education, and Health & Fitness.