How Hearing & Balance Enhance Focus & Learning | Huberman Lab Essentials

Andrew Huberman

May 8, 2025

Episode description

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I explore how the auditory and vestibular (balance) systems are essential for enhancing learning and improving focus.

I explain how the auditory system captures sound waves and how the brain interprets these signals to make sense of the environment. I also discuss the use of white noise and binaural beats to support brain states conducive to learning, focus and relaxation. Additionally, I explain how the vestibular system helps maintain balance and examine practical tools to enhance auditory learning, cognitive performance and mood.

Read the episode show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/9QzqNcc

Huberman Lab Essentials are short episodes focused on essential science and protocol takeaways from past full-length Huberman Lab episodes. Watch or listen to the full-length episode: https://youtu.be/JVRyzYB9JSY

More Huberman Lab Essentials: https://go.hubermanlab.com/essentials

*Timestamps*
00:00:00 Huberman Lab Essentials; Hearing & Balance
00:00:55 Ears, Sound Waves, Cochlea
00:04:42 Sound & Direction, Ventriloquism Effect, Cupping Ears
00:08:09 Binaural Beats, Alertness, Calmness, Learning, Anxiety
00:12:27 Tool: White Noise & Learning
00:15:54 White Noise, Hearing Loss & Child Development
00:20:02 Auditory Learning, Cocktail Party Effect, Tool: Remember New Names
00:24:06 Balance, Ears, Vestibular System
00:29:17 Improve Dynamic Balance, Tool: Improve Mood & Learning, Tilted Exercise
00:32:11 Recap & Key Takeaways

Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

Episode description

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Train balance with forward acceleration and body tilt

The most effective way to train your balance is to engage in activities that combine forward acceleration with a body tilt, like carving on a snowboard or leaning into a turn on a bike.

#balance

#exercise

Utilize gamma waves to enhance problem-solving skills

High-frequency gamma waves, specifically between 32-100 Hz, are particularly effective for bringing the brain into a state for learning and problem-solving.

#cognition

Utilize binaural beats to reduce anxiety and chronic pain

The most significant, evidence-backed benefits of binaural beats appear to be for reducing anxiety and chronic pain, rather than just for enhancing learning.

#anxiety

#pain

Utilize low-intensity white noise to enhance learning motivation

Low-intensity white noise can improve learning by modulating activity in dopaminergic midbrain regions, which are associated with motivation.

#dopamine

#motivation

Avoid continuous white noise exposure for infants' auditory health

Exposing a developing infant to continuous white noise, especially during sleep, may be detrimental to the auditory system by disrupting the brain's ability to form sound maps.

#children

#sleep

Focus on name sounds to enhance memory in loud environments

To better remember a person's name in a loud environment, consciously focus on the onset and offset sounds of the name itself.

#cognition

#memory

Carve for a mood boost by stimulating serotonin and dopamine

Activities involving forward acceleration while tilted have a profound positive effect on mood by stimulating the cerebellum to release neuromodulators like serotonin and dopamine.