The Science & Process of Healing From Grief

Host of the Huberman Lab Podcast and a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

A Nobel Prize-winning physicist known for his intellect, teaching, and humorous personality, whose personal letters to his deceased wife Arline provide a poignant example of the enduring nature of grief and attachment.

A scientist who, along with Edvard Moser, co-discovered trace cells.

Former director of the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), whose laboratory heavily focused on prairie vole research.

A neurologist and former colleague of Huberman at UCSD, known for his work on phantom limb phenomena and the mirror box therapy.

A colleague of Huberman at Stanford and Stanford School of Medicine, who has discussed the relationship between cortisol rhythms and mental health, and has been a guest on the podcast.

Richard Feynman's first wife and childhood sweetheart, who died at a young age from tuberculosis, and to whom Feynman continued to write letters after her death.

A guest on the Huberman Lab Podcast and an expert on learning and memory from New York University.

A psychiatrist and researcher colleague of Huberman from Stanford, who discussed the challenge of knowing how others truly feel.

A scientist who, along with Britt Moser, co-discovered trace cells.

A professor of psychology at the University of Arizona and a leading researcher in the neuroscience of grief.

A colleague of Huberman at Stanford and Stanford School of Medicine, who has discussed the relationship between cortisol rhythms and mental health, and has been a guest on the podcast.

A company founded by two All-American swimmers from Stanford that makes high-quality performance sunglasses and eyeglasses.

A company that makes smart mattress covers with cooling, heating, and sleep tracking capabilities.

A personalized nutrition platform that analyzes blood and DNA data to help individuals understand their bodies and health goals.

The institution where neurologists like V.S. Ramachandran conducted research on phantom limb sensations.

The podcast platform where Andrew Huberman discusses science and science-based tools.

The institution where Andrew Huberman is a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology.

A research laboratory, co-led by Edvard and Britt Moser, renowned for its discovery of trace cells.

A government organization focused on mental health research.

A catecholamine hormone elevated in individuals who experience complicated grief, indicating a higher baseline level of autonomic arousal.

The natural variation in heart rate in sync with breathing, where inhales speed up the heart and exhales slow it down; a measure related to vagal tone.

A brain area that acts as a coordinate system to orient individuals in space and time, working with the hippocampus.

A brain area where dopamine creates a motivated state, associated with motivation, craving, and pursuit, and shown to be active in states of complicated grief.

Neurons in the hippocampus that fire when an individual is in a particular familiar location, helping to represent the location itself.

A hormone and peptide involved in milk letdown, pair bonding, and social attachments, with higher receptor levels in the nucleus accumbens potentially linked to more intense yearning in grief.

The brain's ability to reorder neural connections, strengthening certain pathways and weakening others, which is essential for adapting and moving through the grief process; it is facilitated by deep sleep and non-sleep deep rest (NSDR).

A brain area uniquely activated in response to changes in physical spacing, temporal spacing of sounds, and emotional distance to people.

A brain structure involved in the formation of new memories and containing specialized cells like place cells, proximity cells, and trace cells, which are crucial for spatial and temporal memory mapping.

Neurons involved in mapping and representations of how close or far an individual is from objects or locations.

Neurons in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex that activate when something is expected to be in a location but is not there, revealing the absence of something.

An extensive nerve pathway connecting the brain and body, generally associated with calming effects and influencing heart rate through processes like respiratory sinus arrhythmia.

Behavioral protocols (10-30 minutes) shown to accelerate neuroplasticity, useful for consolidating learning and helping the brain reconfigure connections during grief.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's famous book that introduced the five stages of grief.

A journal that published the paper 'Emotional Disclosure for Whom? A Study of Vagal Tone in Bereavement'.

A famous book by Richard Feynman, containing anecdotes and insights into his life and thinking.

Another book by Richard Feynman, with its title being a quote from his first wife, Arline.

A paper by Mary-Frances O'Connor and colleagues demonstrating that grief, particularly complicated grief, activates reward centers in the brain, indicating a state of yearning rather than just sadness.

A paper indicating that individuals with complicated grief exhibit significantly higher cortisol levels in the afternoon and evening compared to those with non-complicated grief.

A paper by Mary-Frances O'Connor and colleagues concluding that higher levels of catecholamines, particularly epinephrine (adrenaline), prior to a loss are associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing complicated grief symptoms.

A study exploring the effect of written emotional disclosure on grieving outcomes, finding that individuals with higher vagal tone (better heart rate modulation) benefited more.

A brain imaging technique used to evaluate which brain areas are active based on blood flow, correlating with neural activity.

A therapy developed by V.S. Ramachandran using mirrors to create the visual impression of a phantom limb moving, which can alleviate phantom pain or sensations.

A specific smart mattress cover product from Eight Sleep.

A high-quality supplement company partnering with Huberman Lab, supplying single-ingredient supplements for sleep, focus, and other benefits, available internationally.

A category of molecules including epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline), and dopamine, whose levels can influence the likelihood and severity of complicated grief.