Essentials: The Biology of Aggression, Mating & Arousal | Dr. David Anderson

About this episode

Dr. David Anderson discusses the biology of aggression, mating, and arousal, focusing on the brain circuits and hormonal influences behind these emotions.

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, my guest is Dr. David Anderson, PhD, a professor of biology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). We discuss the brain circuits that underlie how emotions emerge and shape behaviors, including the neural control of fear, aggression and pain. We also explore how hormones and neuromodulators influence these emotional states, and why understanding these hidden internal processes is essential for improving future mental health treatments. Read the show notes at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) David Anderson (00:00:20) Emotions vs States (00:01:53) Emotion Qualities: Persistence & Generalization (00:04:04) Aggression (00:06:39) Sponsor: BetterHelp (00:07:41) Evolution of Fear & Aggression, Offensive vs Defensive Aggression (00:09:57) Homeostatic Behaviors & Hydraulic Pressure (00:12:58) Testosterone, Estrogen & Aggression (00:14:51) Female vs Male Aggression (00:16:48) Sponsor: AG1 (00:18:13) Mating Behavior &…

People in this episode

Host: Andrew Huberman

Guest: Dr. David Anderson

Topics covered

• biology of aggression
• emotions
• mating behavior
• neural circuits
• mental health treatments

Keywords

• aggression
• mating
• emotions
• neural control
• mental health

Sponsors

AG1, BetterHelp, Function

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: California Institute of Technology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Products: AG1, BetterHelp, Function

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