Moran Cerf studies the underlying mechanisms of our psychology by eavesdropping on the activity of our brain from the inside out.
Moran Cerf
What if we could peek inside our brains and see our dreams — or even shape them? Studying memory-specific brain cells, neuroscientist (and ex-hacker) Moran Cerf found that our sleeping brains retain some of the content we encounter when we’re awake and that our dreams can influence our waking actions. Where could this lead us? “Neuroscientists are now giving us a new tool to control our dreams,” Cerf says, “a new canvas that flickers to life when we fall asleep.”
Why you should listen
As a hacker, Moran Cerf had an enviable life: infiltrating the security of large companies and banks. Now, translating these skills to neuroscience, he looks at the ultimate “black box” – the human brain.
Analyzing the brain’s inner workings during neurosurgical procedures, Cerf eavesdrops on the activity of individual cells inside open brains as we make decisions, feel, think, imagine or dream. His results help us understand how we think, and how we can use our understanding of the activity inside our head to predict behaviors and understand the underlying mechanisms of our psychology.
What others say
“Moran Cerf can be modestly described as the hacker-turned-neuroscientist. Intrigued? Well, that tag is an understatement really.” — YourStory.com, December 3, 2013