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Explaining neuroscience in ongoing Instagram video series: A Q&A

A Stanford neurobiologist continues with his challenge of explaining neuroscience in a series of brief videos on Instagram — for an entire year.

At the beginning of the year, Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, PhD, pledged to post on Instagram one-minute educational videos about neuroscience for an entire year. Since a third of his regular followers come from Spanish-speaking countries, he posts them in both English and Spanish. We spoke soon after he launched the project. And now that half the year is over, I checked in with him about his New Year's resolution.

How is your Instagram project going?

It's going great. I haven't kept up with the frequency of posts that I initially set out to do, but it's been relatively steady. The account has grown to about 13,500 followers and there is a lot of engagement. They ask great questions and the vast majority of comments indicate to me that people understand and appreciate the content. I'm really grateful for my followers. Everyone's time is valuable and the fact that they comment and seem to enjoy the content is gratifying.

What have you learned?

The feedback informed me that 60 seconds of information is a lot for some people, especially if the topic requires new terms. That was surprising. So I have opted to do shorter 45-second videos and those get double or more views and reposts. I also have started posting images and videos of brains and such with 'voice over' content. It's more work to produce, but people seem to like that more than the 'professor talking' videos.

I still get the 'you need to blink more!' comments, but fortunately that has tapered off. My Spanish is also getting better but I'm still not fluent. Neural plasticity takes time but I'll get there.

What is your favorite video so far?

People naturally like the videos that provide something actionable for their health and well-being. The brief series on light and circadian rhythms was especially popular, as well as the one on how looking at the blue light from your cell phone in the middle of the night can potentially alter sleep and mood. I particularly enjoyed making that post since it combined vision science and mental health, which is one of my lab's main focuses.

What are you planning for the rest of the year?

I'm kicking off some longer content through the Instagram TV format, which will allow people who want more in-depth information to get that. I'm also helping The Society for Neuroscience get their message out about their annual meeting. Other than that, I'm just going to keep grinding away at delivering what I think is interesting neuroscience to people that would otherwise not hear about it.

Is it fun or an obligation at this point?

There are days where other things take priority -- research, teaching and caring for my bulldog Costello -- but I have to do it since I promised I'd post. However, it's always fun once I get started. If only I could get Costello to fill in for me when I get busy...

Photo by Holly Hernandez

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