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Of Critical Periods and Cephalopods: A Conversation with Neuroscientist Dr. Gül Dolen

Gül Dolen, Amy Emerson

What if psychedelics could help the brain relearn how to learn? Dr. Gül Dölen—Professor and Bob & Renee Parsons Endowed Chair in Neuroscience and Psychology at UC Berkeley, and Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine—shares her groundbreaking research on how psychedelic compounds can reopen “critical periods” of brain plasticity. Her cross-species studies, including with octopuses, illuminate how these compounds may radically reshape our approach to treating conditions like PTSD, autism, and stroke. A recipient of major honors from the Searle Scholars Program, Johns Hopkins University, and the Society for Social Neuroscience, Dr. Dölen brings bold scientific vision and deep ethical inquiry to this emerging frontier of psychedelic neuroscience.

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