David Eagleman: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain | Human Behavior | E209

2023-02-13

At age 8, David Eagleman fell off the edge of a roof. While he was falling, he felt the world slow down, and he saw his life flash before his eyes. His fall made him want to study the neural basis of time perception in crisis situations, and years later, David became a neuroscientist and expert on topics like time perception, brain plasticity, and neurolaw. In this episode, David talks about sensory substitution, the plasticity of the brain, and the potential future state of the human experience. He also breaks down what he calls “livewiring.”David Eag...

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford University and an internationally bestselling author. He is co-founder of two venture-backed companies, Neosensory and BrainCheck, and he also directs the Center for Science and Law, a national non-profit institute. He is best known for his work on sensory substitution, time perception, brain plasticity, synesthesia, and neurolaw. In his latest book, Livewired, he tells the story of brain plasticity.

In this episode, Hala and David will discuss:

- Why a childhood injury influenced David to study time perception

- How we have evolved our senses based on our environment

- What a “half-baked” brain looks like

- Brain Plasticity over time

- David’s “Mr. Potato Head” Model

- The new discoveries of Neosensory

- Why we dream

- How science and religion are related

- What it means to be livewired

- And other topics…

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford University and an internationally bestselling author. He is the writer and presenter of the international PBS series, The Brain with David Eagleman, and the author of the companion book, The Brain: The Story of You. He is also the writer and presenter of The Creative Brain on Netflix. He is the co-founder of two venture-backed companies, Neosensory and BrainCheck, and he also directs the Center for Science and Law, a national non-profit institute.

Beyond his 120+ academic publications, he has published many popular books. His latest book Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain tells the story of brain plasticity: how your forest of billions of neurons reconfigures every moment of your life. Eagleman is a TED speaker and a Guggenheim Fellow. He also serves on several boards, including the American Brain Foundation and The Long Now Foundation. He serves as the academic editor for the Journal of Science and Law, was named Science Educator of the Year by the Society for Neuroscience, and was featured as one of the Brightest Idea Guys by Italy’s Style magazine. David’s new podcast The Story Inside with David Eagleman will drop in the Spring of 2023 with iHeartMedia.

Resources Mentioned:

David’s Website: https://eagleman.com/

David’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davideagleman/

David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davideagleman

David’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davideagleman/

David’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/David.M.Eagleman

David’s Podcast: https://eagleman.com/podcast/

David’s book Livewired: https://eagleman.com/books/livewired/

PBS series, The Brain with David Eagleman: https://www.pbs.org/show/brain-david-eagleman/

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