David Eagleman, The Leonardo Da Vinci Of The Brain

David Eagleman is known as the Leonardo Da Vinci of the brain. In addition to being a neuroscientist and writer, his exceptional work as an inventor stands out. He has developed devices to diagnose schizophrenia, to detect brain damage and to improve the quality of life of deaf-mutes, although his real interest is to decipher what we call “conscience.”

It was in 2015 that a new television show hosted by David, titled The Brain , premiered. The purpose of this space was to make the most important information we know about the human brain accessible to the general public in the same way that Carl Sagan did at the time, with the now mythical series Cosmos .

The truth is that we are increasingly interested in getting to know each other. If Sagan managed to get entire generations to be passionate about everything that happens beyond our little blue dot in the sky, David Eagleman is also fulfilling his mission.

Neuroscience provides us with fascinating data about the human being, about what we are and about everything that we can become. The journey into this deep, hyper-connected synaptic universe could not be more interesting.

David Eagleman and neuroscience within everyone’s reach

The most critical voices say David Eagleman has simplified neuroscience by making it available to everyone. That he has used his young image and his good communication skills to gain a foothold in the publishing and television world. It may be true, however, that whoever knows his career knows well what this teacher is. Names, such as Eagleman himself and Elon Musk, represent today a spectacular leap in the world of science.

David Eagleman was in his early eighties when he fell from a building under construction. The consequences were not serious, however, he experienced something that marked him forever. He realized that time passed very slowly as he descended to the ground.

Why is it that when we feel fear, the perception of time is slower in the brain? Why do we suffer such strange and agonizing torture? That doubt accompanied him for years. To date, he has already published several papers on the subject after carrying out various experiments at NeoSensory , his laboratory in Palo Alto, California.

Since he began his neuroscience studies, he had one aspect very clear: to contribute practical things, useful dimensions to society. The idea of ​​generating this type of knowledge and resources that are equally beneficial to all of us is an almost moral principle that was already enunciated at the time by another figure of science: Nikola Tesla. David Eagleman, for his part, is a member of the Institute of Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and today he has developed various inventions that are a great achievement in various areas of science.

Advances Developed by Dr. Eagleman

• A vest that uses the sense of touch to enable deaf people to hear again (a breakthrough based on the theory of sensory substitution).
• A device that allows to know if athletes have suffered some type of brain damage after an impact or a fall.
• A device capable of diagnosing schizophrenia early.
• A detector that helps detect substance abuse.
• Another detector to diagnose synaesthetic people.
• Development of the foundational fMRI, or magnetic resonance imaging device, to investigate how hundreds of brains process information at the same time.

There is also another notable area in which David Eagleman is a pioneer: ethical and legal neuroscience. To date, it has developed a series of guidelines based on this scientific field to generate new methods of rehabilitation in offenders. Its purpose? According to him “repair, train and treat” the human brain so that it stops breaking the laws.

Eagleman, the next nobel prize

He is 47 years old and has been aspiring for the Nobel Prize for almost a decade. His name is always among the favorites, his books are among the best sellers and he is that media face that fills audiences and that leads any television program to success. He was a child prodigy, someone who at the age of 7 already dazzled his teachers, and who at 20 left his career as a space physicist in Houston to study neuroscience.

Now, whether the Nobel receives it at some point or not, Dr. Eagleman has long been revolutionizing the academic world. He has the recognition of the public, much of the scientific community and also Silicon Valley, who is always aware of his amazing inventions.

For him science must fulfill an objective: to offer well-being, progress, wisdom. For this reason, he does not hesitate for a moment to criticize the work of the scientific world up to the present moment: all they do is waste time arguing and counterarguing, focusing on insignificant things without getting anywhere . We must broaden perspectives and we must make available to people everything we know so far.

For this reason, one of his most exciting books is undoubtedly “

The Leonardo da Vinci of the brain has only just begun its journey. It is very likely that in the coming years it will reveal more mysteries and bring us many more advances.