Episode · Huberman Lab · 2026-08-17
Books mentioned on Neuroscience of Emotions & Tools for Improving Emotion Regulation | Dr. Ralph Adolphs
Dr. Ralph Adolphs, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biology at Caltech and a leading expert on the science of human emotions.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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What Emotions Really Are
Discussed“Paul Griffith's philosopher wrote a book some years ago, I think 97 or so, what emotions really are, uh, where he first kind of made the claim that, well, they don't really exist”
Where to get it
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The Neuroscience of Emotion
Discussed“And so David Anderson and I did that in our book a decade ago or so now the neuroscience of emotion where we listed some features of emotions that helps to answer the question”
Where to get it
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The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin is a foundational 1872 scientific work that explores the evolutionary origins of emotional expression across different species.
Discussed“Some are further apart and the simplest dimension which is one that Charles Darwin already mentioned in his book the expression of the emotion in man and animals he called it principle of antithesis is veilance which is approach or avoid pleasant or unpleasant this basic veilance dimension.”
Where to get it
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The Variations of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Volume 1
The Variations of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Volume 1 by Charles Darwin is a detailed scientific exploration of how selective breeding alters biological organisms over generations.
Discussed“Some are further apart and the simplest dimension which is one that Charles Darwin already mentioned in his book the expression of the emotion in man and animals he called it principle of antithesis is veilance which is approach or avoid pleasant or unpleasant this basic veilance dimension.”
Where to get it
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Descartes' Error
Descartes' Error by Antonio Damasio is a foundational neuroscience book exploring the vital role that emotions and feelings play in human decision-making and rational thought.
Discussed“If you have no emotions as we know from Antonio Damasio's original work in his book Daycart's error uh which he put out just as I was starting as a posttock in Iowa 1994”
Where to get it
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The Book of Human Emotions
The Book of Human Emotions by Tiffany Watt Smith is an engaging dictionary-style exploration of how different cultures and eras have defined and experienced human feelings.
Recommended“There's a great book uh Tiffany Watts Smith has a book I think it's called the book of human emotions which is basically like a little uh dictionary an entry from a toz of all the different emotion words in different languages”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“To celebrate the launch of my new book entitled Protocols, I'm pleased to share that I'll be hosting three live events very soon.”
“For those of you that haven't heard, I have a new book coming out. It's my very first book. It's entitled Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body. This is a book that I've been working on for more than five years”