Insightful Exploration of the Eye-Brain Connection

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The chapter delves into the neural retina's role as an extension of the brain, showcasing how the eyes hold valuable clues about overall health and brain conditions. It discusses the eye's diagnostic potential for detecting sleep deprivation, neurodegeneration, like Alzheimer's, and the brain's plasticity in handling increased visual information. The dialogue also touches on the development of retinal prostheses and the need for a grounded, incremental approach to understanding the brain and creating effective neural implants.

In this episode, my guest is Dr. E.J. Chichilnisky, Ph.D., a professor of neurosurgery and ophthalmology at Stanford University. He studies how we see and uses that information to build artificial eyes that restore vision to the blind.

We discuss how understanding the retina (the light-sensing brain tissue that lines the back of our eyes) is critical to knowing how our brain works more generally.

We discuss brain augmentation with biologically informed prostheses, robotics, and AI and what this means for medicine and humanity.

We also discuss E.J.’s unique journey into neuroscience and how changing fields multiple times, combined with some wandering, taught him how to guide his decision-making in all realms of life.

This episode ought to be of interest to anyone interested in learning how the brain works from a world-class neuroscientist, those interested in the future of brain therapeutics and people seeking inspiration and tools for navigating their own professional and life journey.

For show notes, including referenced articles and additional resources, please visit hubermanlab.com.