Dr. Michael Kilgard

When we make the wrong choices, we see it.

That's true as a parent, true as a scientist.

When things don't work, you're going to find out.

And I like that feedback from the world.

Yeah.

I mean they remind me of the sort of four fundamental forces of nature and then we're looking for the grand unified theory, right?

So in physics, you've got electromagnetism, gravity, strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force.

We're trying to put them all together.

We know they all exist but what do they all do individually?

How do they all work together?

They make tables.

I mean that's what all this stuff does.

For me, those four neurotransmitters began as a simple experiment searching for an explanation.

My story of this is easy in the beginning.

I heard about one experiment done by Greg Reckinson in the early 90s, and a monkey is reaching out and having a vibration on the tip of his finger, and if he pays attention to it enough, he can double the number of neurons in his brain or triple or sometimes five times more neurons that respond to a touch of the finger.

That's amazing.

That monkey was also listening to a sound that happened just as often, but his auditory cortex did not change.

because he wasn't listening to the tone.

What was useful to him was the touch.

He'd pull his hand away and get a pellet reward based on the touch.