Huberman Lab Essentials: How Your Brain Functions & Interprets the World | Dr. David Berson
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Oct 16, 2025 Dr. David Berson, a neuroscience professor at Brown University, shares fascinating insights into how our brains process visual information. He discusses the journey of photons through retinal ganglion cells to our conscious perception. Berson reveals how color vision works through different photopigments and introduces melanopsin's role in brightness detection. The conversation also covers the circadian clock's regulation by light, the vestibular system's contribution to balance, and even how the visual cortex adapts in cases of blindness. A captivating exploration of the brain's complexity!
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Seeing Is A Brain Construct
- Visual experience is a brain phenomenon driven by retinal activity sent to cortex.
- Retinal ganglion cells transform peripheral input into patterns the brain associates with sight.
Color From Three Cone Signals
- Color arises because photoreceptors express different pigments tuned to wavelengths.
- The brain compares signals from three cone types to decode wavelength composition into color.
Melanopsin Encodes Ambient Brightness
- A unique photopigment, melanopsin, resides in retinal ganglion cells rather than outer photoreceptors.
- These intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells signal ambient brightness and sync the circadian clock.