Time perception

Time perception

To understand the neural mechanisms of time perception, David's lab combines psychophysical, behavioral, and computational approaches to address the relationship between the timing of perception and the underlying neural signals.
Neurolaw

Neurolaw

David is founder and director of the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law, which studies how new discoveries in neuroscience can navigate the way we make laws, punish criminals, and develop rehabilitation.
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

What's happening under the hood of conscious awareness? Just about everything.
David Eagleman's SUM

David Eagleman's SUM

This work of fiction is an international bestseller published in 27 languages. It has been turned into musical performances at the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Opera House in London. Learn more about it.
Synesthesia

Synesthesia

A person with synesthesia might feel the flavor of food on her fingertips, sense the letter J as shimmering magenta or the number 5 as emerald green, hear and taste her husband's voice as buttery golden brown. Learn more.
Why the Net Matters

Why the Net Matters

  Are the threats that brought down previous civilizations averted by our new technologies? David thinks so, and he has a new book on it: WHY THE NET MATTERS

David EaglemanDavid Eagleman is a neuroscientist and a New York Times bestselling author. He directs the Laboratory for Perception and Action at the Baylor College of Medicine, where he also directs the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law. He is best known for his work on time perception, synesthesia, and neurolaw. At night he writes. His work of fiction, SUM, is an international bestseller published in 27 languages. His book on the internet and civilization, Why the Net Matters, is available as an app for the iPad and as an eBookWednesday is Indigo Blue explores the neurological condition of synesthesia, in which the senses are blended. His latest book, the New York Times bestseller Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, explores the neuroscience "under the hood" of the conscious mind -- in other words, all the aspects of neural function to which we have no awareness or access. 

Eagleman is a Guggenheim Fellow, a Next Generation Texas Fellow, a council member on the World Economic Forum, a research fellow in the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and a board member of The Long Now Foundation. He is an academic editor for several scientific journals, and has been named one of 2012's Brightest Idea Guys by Italy's Style magazine.  He is the scientific advisor for the television drama Perception, and has been profiled on the Colbert Report, NOVA Science Now, the New Yorker, CNN's Next List, and many other venues. He appears regularly on radio and television to discuss literature and science.

News Flashes

Synesthesia book wins the Montaigne Medal

Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia has been awarded the Montaigne Medal, Eric Hoffer Award for Books.
synesthesia

Eagleman and Brian Eno bring Sum to Sydney Opera House

In June, 2009, David Eagleman collaborated with musician/producer Brian Eno to perform a musical reading of Sum to 1,000 people at the Sydney Opera House. In May of 2010 they performed together again to 1,200 people at the Brighton Dome in England. Stay tuned for further performances.

From the Eagleman Blog

The Mystery of Expertise

To the extent that consciousness is useful, it is useful in small quantities, and for very part

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Time to End the War on Drugs?

To liberalise or prohibit?  I recently joined Eliot Spitzer, Julian Assange, Vicente Fox,

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Italy's STYLE magazine: Idea Guys for 2012

Think it's unlikely for a scientist to be featured on the cover of an Italian fashion magazine?

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Discussing dreaming with Henry Rollins

I recently spent an evening speaking at the Rubin Museum in NYC with punk rock legend, writer,

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The Mystery of Expertise

To the extent that consciousness is useful, it is useful in small quantities, and for very part

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Documentary on the History Channel

Interested in issues of memory and the brain? Watch a clip of David on the History Channel.

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Will Self

The author Will Self and I appeared on stage together to discuss life, death, and what makes go

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Possibilianism at PopTech

I recently spoke at PopTech on the limits of science, the problems of false dichotomies, and my

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Learn more about the Science

Time perception

To understand the neural mechanisms of time perception, David's lab combines psychophysical, behavioral, and computational approaches to address the relationship between the timing of perception and the underlying neural signals.

Neurolaw

David is founder and director of the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law, which studies how new discoveries in neuroscience can navigate the way we make laws, punish criminals, and develop rehabilitation.

Synesthesia

In synesthesia, information between the senses is blended. Letters might trigger the experience of colors, or sounds the experience of taste, or many other combinations. My laboratory has tested and verified over 20,000 synesthetes, and we are working to understand how it sheds light on consciousness, from the genetics to the neural networks. 

Sensory Substitution

  Can sensory data be fed through unusual sensory channels?  And can the brain learn to extract the meaning of such information streams? Yes and yes. Sensory substitution is a non-invasive technique for circumventing the loss of one sense by feeding its information through another channel. 

Deep brain recording in humans

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) targets deep nuclei in the brain to help with Parkinsons Disease or tremor. During surgery, we have a window to measure the responses of single neurons in the human brain. While the recording electrodes are in place, we present sights and sounds to a patient while the responses of the neurons are recorded.  Find out more.

Other Projects

Other projects in our lab include the use of real-time feedback neuroimaging to break drug addiction, intervention programs in high-violence neighborhoods, word aversion, illusory motion reversal, the flash lag effect, a theory of cerebellar glomeruli, extracellular calcium as a neurotransmitter, and dopamine and human decision-making. Click to learn more.

Colbert Report

Watch David discussing Incognito, neural parliaments, and reality on the Colbert Report.

Style Magazine

David Eagleman Italian Style Magazine Cover
David has been named one of the Brainiest and Brightest Idea Guys by Italy's Style magazine.