Understanding How Our Brain Works with: Dr Mark Williams

In 2021, approximately
406 million disability-adjusted life years were caused by brain health
conditions, which is higher than other widely acknowledged
health threats such as cancer (260 million DALYs) or cardiovascular disease
(402 million DALYs, according to Politico. Dr. Mark
Williams, PhD is a neuroscientist committed to improving learning,
productivity, and well-being for everyone.”  He has worked with thousands of students,
teachers, health professionals, and company directors keen to understand how
their brain works, how to perform optimally and maintain a healthy brain. He
regularly runs programs on the neuroscience of learning, the neuroscience of
emotions, how to hack your habits, how our brains create our reality, and the
impact of modern technologies on our brains. Dr Mark’s book The
Connected Species: How understanding the evolution of our brain can change the
world will be published internationally in 2023.

Dr Mark has an extensive academic background in brain research and
teaching. He is a professor of cognitive neuroscience, with over 25 years of
experience conducting behavioral and brain imaging research focusing on how we
interact with each other, how we learn, and how we think. He has taught the
fundamentals of neuroscience to thousands of undergraduate and postgraduate
students, as well as publishing more than 70 articles in high-impact
international journals and co-editing a book. He is an editorial board member
of several international journals, has been awarded numerous high-profile
fellowships and grants, and has worked at MIT in the USA and multiple
universities in Australia.

Not a typical ‘academic’, Dr Mark comes from a disjointed family
background. He hated school and experienced first-hand the challenges of
getting ahead in a small town in Victoria. To describe these years as
‘colorful’ is an understatement. Aged 25, something changed. Mark returned to learning,
completed his HSC, and began what became a rapid rise to academic achievement,
including being awarded both the CJ Martin and the Queen Elisabeth II
Fellowships. He became fascinated with how we interact, learn and think. Mark
went on to study brain plasticity, attention disorders, autism, prosopagnosia
(face blindness), dementia, and eating disorders. He has been at the cutting
edge of developing computational brain imaging analysis and the adoption of new
technologies like virtual reality in research.

Dr Mark draws on his extensive scientific background to work with
schools, companies, and the public to develop evidence-based practices using
neuroscience to enhance our education, work, and personal lives. His work has
been highlighted in the media internationally including in The Guardian, The
New York Times, and the Economist, and he is involved in several popular
science documentaries. He joined me this week to tell me more.

 For more information: https://www.drmarkwilliams.com/

Get the book: https://rethinkingthebrain.com/books/