Dr. Masud Husain is a Professor of Neurology & Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford and a leading expert on the science of motivation, apathy, and neurological diseases. We discuss how dopamine and specific brain circuits shape motivation, including how the brain weighs the trade-off between effort vs reward when deciding what goals to pursue. Dr. Husain also explains practical tools to increase motivation, reduce distractions, and make it easier to start and maintain goal pursuit. We also discuss dementia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, including new insights into cognitive resilience and factors that help protect against age-related cognitive decline.
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Dr. Masud Husain
Website: https://www.masudhusain.org
Academic profile: https://www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk/team/masud-husain
Cognitive Neurology Research Group: https://www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk/research/cognitive-neurology
Our Brains, Our Selves (book): https://geni.us/WljOcr
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Timestamps
00:00:00 Masud Husain
00:02:24 Apathy, Motivation
00:08:07 Rewards, Apathy & Motivation; Dopamine
00:13:20 Sponsors: David & BetterHelp
00:15:44 Types of Apathy; Goal Prioritization: Effort vs Rewards
00:23:26 Motivation, Apathy, Tool: Activation Energy & Overthinking
00:29:24 Tools to Increase Motivation: Incentives, Subdivide Tasks, Planning
00:35:13 Subjective Effort, Mental Framing; Learning & Motivation
00:42:24 Sponsors: AG1 & Eight Sleep
00:44:54 Perseverance, Failure; Finding Your Passion, Depression vs Apathy
00:50:58 Self-Concept, Ambition; Life Satisfaction
00:58:25 Psychedelics, Anhedonia & Changing Self
01:03:09 Personal & Social Identity, Tools: Curiosity, Purpose & Dementia Risk
01:11:58 Addiction, Dopamine; Social Media & Dopamine “Hits”?
01:18:36 Sponsor: Function
01:20:13 Dopamine, Parkinson’s Disease; Other Roles of Dopamine
01:26:59 Life Purpose, Culture; Reflection, Weighing Decisions
01:34:21 Internal & External Attention
01:39:59 Internal Chatter, Distraction; Working Memory, Stimulants, Nicotine
01:48:54 ADHD, Diagnosis; Attention & Motivation
01:54:34 Goal Planning & Perseverance
01:59:44 Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, Apathy, Tools: Dementia Risk Factors
02:06:55 Neurodegenerative Disease & Emerging Treatments
02:10:59 Can You Train Attention?, Tool: Reduce Distraction
02:15:14 Enrichment, Art
02:17:45 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter
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