AMA #6: Eye Health, Why We Yawn & Increasing Motivation

About this video

In this AMA on eye health, yawning, and motivation, Huberman focuses in the excerpts on the aging eye. He recommends viewing things both close up and far away across the day, arguing that unprecedented time spent looking at screens between roughly nine inches and two and a half feet coincides with dramatically increasing myopia, especially in children and young adults, and he suggests viewing distant things ideally for several hours per day. Huberman explains microsaccades, tiny eye movements that prevent visual images from disappearing through adaptation, and macrosaccades for looking around visual space. He recommends deliberate smooth pursuit exercises, following a moving target for a minute or two a day, and a near-far vergence exercise with a pen, moving it closer until focus blurs and back out for a minute or two, which he says can build the neuromuscular connections for focusing and improve certain aspects of vision.

Key takeaways

• Huberman recommends balancing close-up viewing with viewing distant things across the day.
• Huberman links heavy close-range screen time with dramatically increasing myopia rates.
• Huberman explains microsaccades prevent visual images from fading through adaptation.
• Huberman recommends brief daily smooth pursuit exercises to maintain eye movement ability.
• Huberman describes a near-far pen exercise he says can improve certain aspects of vision.

Episode details: published April 27, 2023 · 131.7K views · 36:14 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The science and protocols described are Andrew Huberman’s, presented for education — not medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before changing your own health practices.

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