How Your Thoughts Are Built & How You Can Shape Them | Dr. Jennifer Groh

About this video

Dr. Jennifer Groh, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, explains how the brain merges the senses and how thoughts are built. She presents the theory that thinking involves running simulations using the brain’s sensory and motor infrastructure: thinking of a cat, for example, recruits visual and auditory simulations of what a cat looks and sounds like, which helps explain why conversation competes with demanding sensory-motor tasks such as merging in traffic. Groh describes how eye movements shape what we attend to and what the brain can process, and how auditory and visual information are mapped onto one another in structures such as the superior colliculus, including the surprising finding that sound processing depends on eye position. Huberman frames her account as an unusually clear, useful definition of what thoughts are and how they can be shaped to learn and think more effectively.

Key takeaways

• Groh presents thinking as running simulations in the brain’s sensory and motor systems.
• Groh explains that eye movements shape attention and how senses are integrated.
• Groh describes sound and vision being mapped together in the superior colliculus.
• Groh notes that sound processing is affected by the position of the eyes.
• Huberman frames Groh’s account as a practical way to become a better thinker and learner.

Episode details: published November 10, 2025 · 159.4K views · 2:16:35 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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