Psychedelic drugs, dreams, mental health awareness, understanding our reality, and more – Neil deGrasse Tyson, neuroscientist Heather Berlin, PhD, and first-time comic co-host Jackie Hoffman answer fan-submitted questions about neuroscience. You’ll learn how male and female brains differ. We explore the colorful world of psychedelic drugs. Find out why taking psychedelics is like putting your brain into a dream state. We discuss how psychedelic drugs allow unfiltered information from the world to enter your brain. Heather shocks Jackie by revealing that everyone is hallucinating most of the time as we try and break down the nature of our reality. We also discuss the idea that some people claim to see insight into the universe and beyond when experimenting with psychedelics. Next, investigate our reality and if it’s possible that everything we experience is a figment of our imagination. As part of the discussion we take a look back at movies like The Matrix and Total Recall. You’ll explore turning certain sensory information into different sensory information, like when a blind person turns visual information into audio information for the brain to process. You’ll also discover more about synesthesia. Finally, we explore the current state of mental health awareness. Dive into dreams as we break down the importance, or non-importance, of what your dreams are about. Neil and Heather point out the merit and flaws of Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams. You’ll find out what it means to “focus” on something. We ponder whether or not brain transplants will ever become a reality. We also wonder if you’ll be able to implant memories. All that, plus, we ask, “Do you need a brain to feel pain?” This episode originally aired on March 22, 2019. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/startalkradio Subscribe to StarTalk: https://www.youtube.com/user/startalkradio?sub_confirmation=1 Follow StarTalk: Twitter: http://twitter.com/startalkradio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startalkradio/ About StarTalk: Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up! #StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson #HeatherBerlin