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Karl Deisseroth is a world-renowned clinical psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and author of Projections: A Story of Human Emotions. In the episode, Karl explains his unique career path that led to the development of optogenetics—a revolutionary technique that uses specialized light-sensitive ion channels to precisely control the activity of select populations of neurons. Karl provides a concise overview of how optogenetics works and how it can be used to better understand mental illness, to identify the neurons responsible for specific behaviors, and to guide development of new treatments. Karl uses his experience as a practicing psychiatrist to provide deep insights into depression, anxiety, autism, and personality disorders and explains the role of optogenetics in mapping out brain regions responsible for common mental health afflictions.

We discuss:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:10 - Karl’s journey through medical school and interest in the brain
00:14:51 - A profound medical school experience that changed Karl’s career path to psychiatry
00:25:07 - Karl’s commitment to research and challenges overcome early in his career
00:32:43 - The state of psychiatry and mental health therapies when Karl started his lab in 2004
00:38:13 - Neuroscience 101: fundamentals of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology
00:48:05 - Traditional techniques for identifying the brain regions involved in specific behaviors
00:52:30 - Intro to optogenetics and how to get a gene into a neuron
01:04:50 - How viruses helped make optogenetics possible
01:19:41 - How optogenetics was used to investigate the effects of dopamine neurons
01:27:02 - Appreciating the power of optogenetics
01:32:42 - Investigating and treating anxiety with optogenetics
01:45:12 - Autism and autism-related anxiety, and the potential of optogenetics in treating autism
01:52:41 - Optogenetics as a powerful tool for the discovery and creation of medical treatments
01:55:59 - Karl’s inspiration to write his book, Projections
02:01:44 - Mania and bipolar disorder: evolutionary basis, symptoms, and the high prevalence in North America
02:13:50 - Depression: evolutionary basis and insights from optogenetics
02:31:03 - The effects of trauma early in life

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About:

The Peter Attia Drive is a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking…and a few other things. With over 35 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more.

Peter is a physician focusing on the applied science of longevity. His practice deals extensively with nutritional interventions, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, emotional and mental health, and pharmacology to increase lifespan (delay the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life).

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