How do our life experiences, good or bad, reshape the very wiring of our brains? Can understanding neuroplasticity help us rethink addiction, memory, learning, and even personal identity?

Terry E. Robinson is the Elliot S. Valenstein Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Michigan. A world-renowned researcher in the field of behavioral neuroscience, Robinson is best known for his work on the neural mechanisms of addiction, particularly how repeated exposure to drugs or rewards changes the brain’s motivation systems. His research has significantly influenced how scientists understand the role of dopamine and the lasting impact of environmental cues on behavior.

In this episode, we explore how the brain adapts to experience, not just learning facts or skills, but at the level of reward, motivation, and desire. Terry explains why addiction should not simply be viewed as a failure of willpower, but as a brain deeply changed by experience. We discuss his influential “incentive-sensitization” theory, which challenges many of our assumptions about craving, relapse, and the role of dopamine.

But we also step back and ask broader questions: What does it mean for a person to change? How do life events such as trauma, joy, or stress physically reconfigure the pathways of our brains? Through this conversation, Terry invites us to think not just like scientists, but as humans trying to make sense of why we do what we do and how we might reshape our minds for the better.