Dr. David Berson: Understanding Your Brain's Logic & Function

In this episode, my guest is Dr. David Berson, Ph.D., Professor & Chairman of Neuroscience at Brown University. Dr. Berson discovered the neurons in your eye that set your biological rhythms for sleep, wakefulness, mood and appetite. He is also a world-renowned teacher of basic and advanced neuroscience, having taught thousands of university lectures on this topic. Many of his students have become world-leading neuroscientists and teachers themselves. 

Here Dr. Berson takes us on a structured journey into and around the nervous system, explaining: how we perceive the world and our internal landscape, how we balance, see, and remember. Also, how we learn and perform reflexive and deliberate actions, how we visualize and imagine in our mind, and how the various circuits of the brain coordinate all these incredible feats. 

We discuss practical and real-life examples of neural circuit function across the lifespan. Dr. Berson gives us a masterclass in the nervous system—one that, in just less than two hours, will teach you an entire course's worth about the brain and how yours works.

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

Thank you to our sponsors

AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman

LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab

Waking Up: https://wakingup.com/huberman

Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/huberman

Timestamps

00:00:00 Dr. David Berson  

00:03:11 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up

00:08:02 How We See  

00:10:02 Color Vision  

00:13:47 “Strange” Vision  

00:16:56 How You Orient In Time  

00:25:45 Body Rhythms, Pineal Function, Light & Melatonin, Blueblockers  

00:34:45 Spending Time Outdoors Improves Eyesight  

00:36:20 Sensation, Mood, & Self-Image  

00:41:03 Sense of Balance  

00:50:43 Why Pigeons Bob Their Heads, Motion Sickness  

01:00:03 Popping Ears  

01:02:35 Midbrain & Blindsight  

01:10:44 Why Tilted Motion Feels Good  

01:13:24 Reflexes vs. Deliberate Actions  

01:16:35 Basal Ganglia & the “2 Marshmallow Test”  

01:24:40 Suppressing Reflexes: Cortex  

01:33:33 Neuroplasticity  

01:36:27 What is a Connectome?  

01:45:20 How to Learn (More About the Brain)  

01:49:04 Book Suggestion, My Berson Appreciation  

01:50:20 Zero-Cost Ways to Support the HLP, Guest Suggestions, Sponsors, Supplements  

Disclaimer