How to Rewire Your Brain & Learn Faster | Dr. Michael Kilgard

In this episode, my guest is Dr. Michael Kilgard, PhD, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas and a leading expert on neuroplasticity and learning across the lifespan. We discuss the need for alertness, effortful focus, post-learning reflection and sleep to induce neuroplasticity, and how dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin and norepinephrine are each involved. He explains the behavioral steps for neuroplasticity, as well as vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) and other therapies for tinnitus, stroke, depression, PTSD and paralysis. This episode ought to be of use to anyone interested in understanding the modern science of brain rewiring and learning to improve cognitive or motor skills or treat sensory or motor disorders.

Articles

• Advice for translational neuroscience: move deliberately and build things (Bioelectronic Medicine)
• Closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation aids recovery from spinal cord injury (Nature)
• Clinical experience implanting a miniature externally powered vagus nerve stimulator (Neurotherapeutics)
• Reversing pathological neural activity using targeted plasticity (Nature)
• Pairing sound with vagus nerve stimulation modulates cortical synchrony and phase coherence in tinnitus: An exploratory retrospective study (Scientific Reports)
• Topographic reorganization of the hand representation in cortical area 3b owl monkeys trained in a frequency-discrimination task (Journal of Neurophysiology)
• Cortical map reorganization enabled by nucleus basalis activity (Science)
• Vagus nerve stimulation therapy for treatment-resistant PTSD (Brain Stimulation)
• Vagus nerve stimulation paired with rehabilitation for upper limb motor function after ischaemic stroke (VNS-REHAB): a randomised, blinded, pivotal, device trial (The Lancet)
• Eligibility traces as a synaptic substrate for learning (Current Opinion in Neurobiology)
• A petavoxel fragment of human cerebral cortex reconstructed at nanoscale resolution (Science)
• A wandering mind is an unhappy mind (Science)

Other Resources

• Texas Biomedical Device Center at The University of Texas at Dallas
• Eric Pickersgill – photo series “Removed”
• Free Solo
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• MicroTransponder
• Vivistim by MicroTransponder
• Patient Testimonials (Vivistim)
• Joe’s Story
• Xnerve Medical
• TNT: Targeted Neuroplasticity Training program (DARPA)
• Neuralink
• Janelia Research Campus (HHMI)

Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned

• How Study & Learn: https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/optimal-protocols-for-studying-learning
• Testing as a Learning Tool (timestamp): https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/optimal-protocols-for-studying-learning?timestamp=2574
• Self-Testing (timestamp): https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/optimal-protocols-for-studying-learning?timestamp=2903

People Mentioned

• Santiago Ramón y Cajal: Spanish neuroscientist, Nobel laureate
• Camillo Golgi: Italian biologist, pathologist, Nobel laureate
• Ralph Waldo Emerson: American philosopher, writer, poet
• Alison Gopnik: professor of psychology, UC Berkeley
• Torsten Wiesel: Swedish neurophysiologist, Nobel laureate
• David Hubel: American-Canadian neurophysiologist, Nobel laureate
• Alfredo Kirkwood: professor of neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Mike Merzenich: professor of otolaryngology, UCSF
• Gregg Recanzone: professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior, UC Davis
• Ronald Davis: professor of neuroscience, UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology
• Donald Hebb: Canadian neuroscientist
• Robert Rennaker: professor of neuroscience, University of Texas at Dallas
• Timothy Schallert: professor of psychology and neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin
• Chris Palmer: professor of psychiatry, Harvard University
• Eddie Chang: professor of neurological surgery, UCSF