Optimize Your Brain For Better Health, Performance And Fulfillment | Neuroscientist, Dr. David Eagleman

David Eagleman (0:01)

To my mind, this is really one of the most powerful things that we can do is understand ourselves through time. In other words, your future self is different than who you are right now, and will be tempted by things. So the question is, what can you do to set into place a contract so that you cannot screw that up?

Michael Gervais (0:29)

Welcome back, or welcome to the Finding Mastery Podcast. I am your host, Dr. Michael Gervais, by trade in training a high-performance psychologist. And I am so stoked to welcome a revolutionary thinker, a true trailblazer in the world of neuroscience, the highly respected Dr. David Eagleman.

Now, as an esteemed Stanford professor, an intrepid explorer of the human brain, his contributions to the field of neuroscience are significant. He has pioneered studies on brain plasticity, sensory substitution, which is the process of using different senses to replace or make up for the lack of another. I mean, our brains are remarkable.

The function of dreams, time perception, and so much more. In today's conversation, David takes us on a fascinating journey, sharing how an optimized brain could be the gateway to anchoring ourselves in the present moment, to unlocking our potential, and living a more vibrant life. So I can't wait for you to experience the passion and the rich knowledge that lives within inside him. David is not just a scientist and a professor. He's the bestselling author of eight books on neuroscience. He's host of a PBS television series on the brain. He's a founder of two incredible companies, both of which we discussed in this conversation. And he's also the host of his own podcast, Inner Cosmos, which he dives deeper into the intersection of brain science and technology. He's remarkable. And I really love the places David took us in this conversation. We explore why novelty is so important when it comes to optimizing our brain's performance, how to shape our future behavior, which is really cool, intriguing ways to increase productivity for individuals and teams, and even practical tools to slow down our perception of time and live more fully in the present moment. Okay, now I also want to encourage you to prepare yourself in this conversation, to really ground yourself. We delve into some intense topics, particularly regarding the recent events surrounding Hamas and Israel. David offers us insights through the lens of brain science. His studies on propaganda and the dynamics of in groups and out groups. We discuss ways in which we can approach these devastating issues with self care and engage in the conversations in meaningful ways.

The energy, wisdom, the lightheartedness that David brings to this conversation, making it an absolute joy to be in it with him. So with that, let's jump right into this week's conversation with the incredible Dr. David Eagleman.

Dr. Eagleman, welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast.

David Eagleman (3:21)

Thank you. It's so nice to be here.

Michael Gervais (3:24)

Congratulations on a meaningful and significant body of work in the field of neuroscience. And I am so fired up to have this conversation. And neuroscientists, psychologists, this conversation sounds like a setup to a bad joke waiting to happen, like a neuroscientist and a psychologist walk into a bar.

But how would you finish that joke?

David Eagleman (3:49)

Well, I don't know, because I don't drink and maybe you don't either. So I'm not sure why we're walking in there, but.

Michael Gervais (3:56)

To judge all the people that are not drinking. No, let's not. Let's make sure that's not part of the end of the joke. That's so funny.

Okay, good. So you don't drink, no alcohol. No, no.

And what were the reasons for that?

David Eagleman (4:09)

Oh, just because it disrupts my sleep a little bit. And I'm just trying to stay healthy and stay strong. And stay cognitively sharp.

Michael Gervais (4:17)

Was that a decision that you made once you understood the impacts on brain?

Or was that something that was ingrained at a young age? Was it something that you had some trauma in the family? You said, no, drinking is definitely not for me.

David Eagleman (4:31)

No, actually no one in my family drank either. So I didn't have that as a model, but it wasn't actually from the neuroscience point of view. It was just observing, you know, when you get to college and so on, you drink with your friends. But I realized that it disrupted sleep. It made me feel fuzzier the next day.

So that's, I just stopped on those reasons.

Michael Gervais (4:50)

Wait a minute. You're 25 And you said, yeah, I'm feeling fuzzy after I drink.