While our visual perceptions are informed by the patterns of light entering our eyes, our conscious experience is actively constructed by our brains. This construction is impacted by our expectations and attention, making it a “controlled hallucination.” Inferences generated by the brain literally make sense of the patterns of neural activity coming from the eyes. How does research at the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics help us understand our brains as reality-conforming experience generators?

Our Wonderfest speaker is Dr. Michael Silver, Professor of Optometry & Vision Science in the Neuroscience Department at UC Berkeley. Dr. Silver is also Director of Cal’s Center for the Science of Psychedelics.