In this episode, I speak with Terry E. Robinson, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists on addiction and reward. A Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Michigan, Robinson’s work has transformed how we understand compulsion, motivation, and brain plasticity. His pioneering research on the Incentive Sensitization Theory of Addiction—developed with Kent Berridge—helped redefine addiction not as a failure of willpower, but as a deeply ingrained form of learning that alters how the brain “wants” rather than “likes.”
We begin with the history of neuroscience and how the field has evolved since Robinson entered it in the late 1970s. He explains how, while the central questions of neuroscience have remained the same, our tools have changed dramatically, allowing us to peer into the brain with unprecedented precision. We discuss the concept of brain plasticity and how experiences, drugs, stress, and even education reshape neural circuits. Robinson describes how addiction arises when this same plasticity becomes maladaptive, transforming desire into pathological wanting that can persist for years after drug use stops.
Our conversation moves beyond addiction to the broader implications of adaptability itself—how our brains constantly change in response to life’s experiences, for better or worse. Robinson shares how curiosity has fueled his 47-year career, how science progresses through serendipity, and why real discovery means being open to the unexpected. It is a conversation about the power and peril of a brain that never stops changing, and what that means for learning, freedom, and the human capacity to evolve.
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Chapters
00:00 – Introduction: Welcoming Terry E. Robinson, pioneer in addiction neuroscience
01:00 – Life between Michigan and Italy: Reflections on remote work and retirement
03:00 – Entering neuroscience in the 1970s: How the field has changed over 47 years
06:00 – The evolution of neuroscience methods and what questions remain the same
09:00 – Can we ever fully understand the brain? The limits of human comprehension
12:00 – How public understanding of neuroscience has grown over time
15:00 – What brain plasticity really means and why change defines our minds
18:00 – How experience, stress, and environment shape the brain’s adaptability
22:00 – Can IQ and plasticity be connected? Learning, flexibility, and intelligence
26:00 – The importance of connecting knowledge across disciplines in education
30:00 – Genes, environment, and the false dichotomy between nature and nurture
33:00 – When adaptation turns harmful: PTSD and maladaptive brain change
37:00 – The birth of the Incentive Sensitization Theory of Addiction
40:00 – How drugs rewire the brain: tolerance, sensitization, and lasting change
44:00 – Dopamine, wanting, and liking: redefining reward and motivation
48:00 – Beyond drugs: behavioral addictions like gambling, food, and pornography
52:00 – Why treatment remains difficult and how context influences relapse
55:00 – Curiosity, serendipity, and the real nature of scientific discovery
58:00 – Closing reflections: Change, curiosity, and the future of neuroscience
