The Science of Gratitude & How to Build a Gratitude Practice | Huberman Lab Podcast #47

🌰 Wisdom in a Nutshell

Essential insights distilled from the video.

1. Effective gratitude practices can positively impact mental and physical health.
2. Activate gratitude circuits with powerful narratives and regular practice.
3. Gratitude practices enhance pro-social feelings, health, and well-being.
4. Enhanced gratitude practices can shift neural circuits, improve empathy.
5. Genuine gratitude fosters a sense of gratitude and reduces stress.
6. Enhancing gratitude practice through chemicals and neuroplasticity.

📚 Introduction

In this blog post, we will explore the transformative power of gratitude and how it can positively impact our mental and physical health. We will discuss various gratitude practices and their effects on neural circuits, social relationships, and overall well-being. Additionally, we will delve into the importance of genuine gratitude, the role of neurotransmitters in enhancing gratitude, and the future of neuroplasticity. By the end of this post, you will have a deeper understanding of gratitude and actionable tips to incorporate it into your daily life.

🔍 Wisdom Unpacked

Delving deeper into the key ideas.

1. Effective gratitude practices can positively impact mental and physical health.

Effective gratitude practices, grounded in a narrative and involving storytelling, can positively impact mental and physical health. These practices, which can be as short as one minute, can shift neural circuits, reduce anxiety, and increase motivation. They can also provide resilience to trauma and enhance social relationships. The key is to have the right gratitude practice, which can be incorporated into daily life. It is recommended to start with a story that makes you feel good, either about yourself or someone else expressing gratitude, and to incorporate calming breathing techniques. The practice involves reading the story and feeling into the genuine experience of gratitude for about one to five minutes, three times a week.

2. Activate gratitude circuits with powerful narratives and regular practice.

Theory of mind, the ability to understand others' experiences, is linked to prefrontal cortex neural circuits. To activate gratitude circuits, it's crucial to either receive gratitude directly or put yourself in someone else's mindset. An effective gratitude practice involves finding a powerful narrative that resonates emotionally, such as a movie, book, or podcast. The key is to select a story that inspires you, and to take short notes about the struggle, help, and emotional impact of the story. Repeat this practice regularly to activate the gratitude circuits more easily. These practices have outsized positive effects on our physiology and can be done anywhere, changing our state of mind and body.

3. Gratitude practices enhance pro-social feelings, health, and well-being.

Gratitude is a pro-social behavior that involves being more effective in interactions with others, associated with neural circuits in the brain that are distinct from defensive circuits. These circuits, when activated, enhance our sensory experiences and bring us closer to others. Gratitude practices can help shift our neural circuits towards positive pro-social feelings and enhance our physical and mental health. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a crucial role in setting the context of our experiences, allowing us to derive health benefits from activities like ice baths. However, simply lying to ourselves or faking gratitude won't work; specific practices are needed to reframe and set context on our experiences. Receiving gratitude is more potent in creating positive shifts than giving gratitude.

4. Enhanced gratitude practices can shift neural circuits, improve empathy.

Gratitude practices, beyond just listing things to be grateful for, can be more effective in shifting neural circuitry and activating pro-social neural networks. This can be achieved by enhancing autonomic arousal, which has two branches: the sympathetic branch, associated with enhanced alertness, and the parasympathetic branch, associated with decreased heart rate and breathing rate. Other approaches to gratitude practices include cold baths, chanting, and using pharmacology to increase autonomic arousal. Regular gratitude practice can also lead to neural circuitry changes, particularly in the ACC (anterior cingulate cortex), which is involved in empathy and understanding the emotional states of others. This area is important for empathy and altruistic behaviors in both animals and humans, and practicing gratitude can help improve empathy.

5. Genuine gratitude fosters a sense of gratitude and reduces stress.

Research suggests that genuine gratitude, not just the amount of money given, is crucial in fostering a sense of gratitude in the recipient. This is evident in a study that found that the intention and wholeheartedness of the giver, rather than the gift size, had a stronger impact on the recipient's sense of gratitude. Additionally, using someone else's narrative of receiving gratitude can tap into your own sense of gratitude, leading to reduced stress and inflammation. A study showed that women who practiced gratitude had reduced amygdala activation and the production of inflammatory cytokines, which are released in response to systemic stress and can be beneficial in the short term but harmful in the long term.

6. Enhancing gratitude practice through chemicals and neuroplasticity.

Certain chemicals in our brain, such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, can enhance our gratitude practice. Serotonin is associated with states of contentment and appreciation for what we already have. Taking compounds like 5HTP or tryptophan can increase serotonin levels and enhance gratitude. However, it's important to consult with a doctor and determine what works best for you. Another compound called Kana, also known as Selenium Tortosum or Zembrin, can increase serotonin levels and create a pro-social, gratitude-enhancing effect. It's important to note that these supplements should be used with caution and under the guidance of a healthcare professional. Neuroplasticity is a process, not an event. It involves multiple steps and is consolidated during sleep. Taking substances that increase neurochemicals in the brain can enhance neuroplasticity, but it's not the only approach. The future of neuroplasticity lies in combining multiple tools, such as neurochemistry, behavioral practices, brain-machine interfaces, and non-invasive devices. For example, enhancing serotonergic transmission in the brain using Kana combined with a gratitude practice and stimulating the prefrontal cortex with a non-invasive device may be possible in the future.

💡 Actionable Wisdom

Transformative tips to apply and remember.

Start incorporating a gratitude practice into your daily life by finding a powerful narrative that resonates emotionally with you. It could be a book, movie, or podcast that inspires gratitude. Take a few minutes each day to reflect on the story and genuinely feel the gratitude it evokes. You can also enhance your gratitude practice by exploring neurotransmitter-enhancing compounds under the guidance of a healthcare professional. Remember, gratitude is a pro-social behavior that can improve your well-being and strengthen your relationships with others.

📽️ Source & Acknowledgment

Link to the source video.

This post summarizes Andrew Huberman's YouTube video titled "The Science of Gratitude & How to Build a Gratitude Practice | Huberman Lab Podcast #47". All credit goes to the original creator. Wisdom In a Nutshell aims to provide you with key insights from top self-improvement videos, fostering personal growth. We strongly encourage you to watch the full video for a deeper understanding and to support the creator.