Essentials: Time Perception, Memory & Focus

Welcome to Huberman Lab Essentials, where we revisit past episodes for the most potent and actionable science-based tools for mental health, physical health, and performance. I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today we are talking about time perception. Our perception of time is perhaps the most important factor in how we gauge our life.

And the reason for that is that our perception of time is directly linked to the neurochemical states that control mood, stress, happiness, excitement, and of course, it frames the way in which we evaluate our past, it frames our present, whether or not we think we are on track or off track, and it frames our sense of the future. So let's talk about time perception. And the most fundamental aspect of time perception is something called entrainment. Entrainment is the way in which your internal processes, your biology and your psychology, are linked to some external thing. And the most basic form of entrainment that we are all a slave to all year round for our entire life are so-called circanual rhythms.

We have neurons, nerve cells, in our eye, in our brain, and in our body that are marking off the passage of time throughout the year. Literally a calendar system in your brain and body. And the way this works is beautifully simple. Light seen by your eyes inhibits, meaning it reduces the amount of a hormone released in your brain called melatonin.

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