Introducing: Science of Perception Box

Join renowned scientists Dr. Heather Berlin and Dr. Christof Koch on the Science of Perception Box, where they delve into the Perception Box—a groundbreaking concept developed by Elizabeth R. Koch, that reveals how our beliefs, biases, and neural wiring shape our reality and define how we experience the world. Through captivating conversations with expert guests like psychiatrist Dr. Judson Brewer, anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher, and journalist Michael Pollan, the show explores how the Perception Box expands in states of awe, curiosity, and love, and contracts during fear, anxiety, or anger. From mindfulness and romantic relationships to psychedelics and human connection, each episode uncovers transformative insights into unlocking greater awareness, fostering curiosity, and reshaping how we perceive the world. New episodes drop every Thursday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow the journey and redefine your reality.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Heather Berlin?

  We all live inside our own perception box.

• 0:07Speaker 01

  Our perception box is how we interpret reality and how we make sense of the world around us. I'm Dr. Christophe Koch. I'm the chief scientist for the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation. I'm also the meritorious investigator and former president of the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

• 0:22Heather Berlin?

  And I'm Dr. Heather Berlin. I'm a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. On Science of Perception Box, we invite experts from a broad range of fields to explore the scientific research behind expanding the walls of this mental box.

• 0:41Speaker 01

  What we're trying to do is take Perception Box and say, let's look at the perception of modern culture and show you developmentally how we can have a different kind of world. We ask, why and how does the mind expand in states like love or awe?

• 0:58Heather Berlin?

  And why and how does the mind contract in response to anxiety, fear, or anger?

• 1:05Speaker 01

  Think of what anxiety feels like, what worrying feels like. It's like this, oh, no, oh, no. So we're kind of closed down. We're contracted. We're kind of stuck in our box.

• 1:15Speaker 02

  If I don't have a sense of who I am, then I have no idea what are the choices I should be making in the world.

• 1:21Heather Berlin?

  These are questions that the podcast is dedicated to exploring.

• 1:25Speaker 01

  New episodes are released every week.

• 1:28Heather Berlin?

  Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube and follow the show wherever you listen to podcasts.