Dr. Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, is a clinical psychiatrist and scientist who directs a bioengineering research laboratory at Stanford University School of Medicine. His work aims to understand and develop treatments for disorders of the mind such as depression, attention deficit disorders (ADHD & ADD), autism, schizophrenia, anxiety, eating disorders, borderline personality and obsessive-compulsive disorder. We discuss his experience treating his patients and his laboratory’s mission to find and develop cures for mental disease and tools for probing how the brain works. 

Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.

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Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction  

00:03:47 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up

00:07:41 Using Language to Understand the Mind  

00:12:19 Blood Tests For Mental Disease  

00:13:38 The Largest Challenges Facing Treatment of Mental Health  

00:20:21 Predicting Depression & Suicide  

00:22:47 Drugs That Work for Brain Illness  

00:27:01 What Would A Cure For the Broken Mind Look Like?  

00:32:23 Channelopsins: Tools For Understanding & Treating the Mind  

00:39:10 Curing Blindness with Channelopsins  

00:41:58 Why Karl Became a Scientist  

00:47:10 Vagus Nerve In Depression  

00:54:12 Challenges To Overcome for Treating Mental Illness with Channelopsins  

00:58:34 Using the Dialogue with Patients to Guide Treatment  

01:00:52 How Our Eyes Reveal Our Mental Health  

01:06:04 Controlling Structures Deep In the Brain  

01:08:23 The Most Effective Drugs Often Have the Most Side Effects  

01:09:50 Do Psychiatrists Take the Drugs They Prescribe  

01:14:15 Moving From Experimental Tools To Novel Treatments  

01:16:00 Brain-Machine Interfaces & Neuralink  

01:19:30 ADHD & Dr. Deisseroth’s Approach To Focusing His Mind  

01:26:36 How Dr. Deisseroth Balances A Career In Medicine, Science & Family  

01:35:41 New Ways of Exploring Brains: CLARITY  

01:38:49 What Is Special About the Human Brain?  

01:46:03 Psychedelics  

01:54:12 MDMA  

01:57:15 Dr. Deisseroth’s New Book “Projections: A Story of Emotions”  

01:59:42 Connecting with Dr. Deisseroth on Twitter  

Disclaimer & Disclosures