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As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
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I wanted to be one of the crew of the starship Enterprise, then a writer, then a scientist.
Explain your work in one easy paragraph.
I write books about the brain. My latest is about how teen and adult brains differ, explained in the context of classic arguments between parents and teens, which I think we can all relate to.
Why did you choose this field?
I was a quiet and studious child, while most of the Burnetts were 鈥� and are 鈥� outgoing, larger-than-life characters. It made me wonder: what is it that makes me so unlike them, even though we live in the same place? I sought out some basic brain books and it went from there.
Did you have to overcome any particular challenges to get to where you are today?
My background and origins were quite a hurdle. I鈥檓 from a remote, working-class, former mining community in south Wales. I鈥檓 also the first person in my family to show any interest in science. Nobody in academia was actively biased against me, but for many people, that world was familiar. I, by contrast, spent a lot of time figuring it out. By the time I did, it was usually too late.
Were you good at science at school?
Yes. I once got 100 per cent in a test and a teacher accused me of copying. Since I had the highest mark, I don鈥檛 know who I could have copied.
If you could send a message back to yourself as a kid, what would you say?
I wouldn鈥檛 do this even if I could. I鈥檝e just spent months researching how the teenage brain works. Being given weirdly specific, unsolicited instructions from some older bloke who claims he鈥檚 you? Given how most teen brains are geared, that鈥檚 likely to make them more willing to do the thing you鈥檙e warning against.
鈥淚 wanted to know what made me so unlike my family, so I started reading books about the brain鈥�
What scientific development do you hope to see in your lifetime?
It would be good to see progress in regenerating nerves. So many problems, like paralysis and Alzheimer鈥檚, could be mitigated or even cured.
How has your field of study changed in the time you have been working in it?
I鈥檓 intrigued to see the shift away from 鈥渢raditional鈥� depression and antidepressant models and a move towards alternatives, like ketamine-based antidepressants.
Do you have an unexpected hobby, and if so, please will you tell us about it?
Most people are surprised, even alarmed, to learn that I dabble in stand-up comedy.
How useful will your skills be after the apocalypse?
My skills are mostly centred around explaining how the brain works. So I鈥檒l either be able to manipulate the survivors or I鈥檒l scare them and they鈥檒l do away with me: warlord or main course, in other words.
If you could have a long conversation with any scientist, living or dead, who would it be?
Eric Kandel, who won the Nobel prize in 2000 for discovering the mechanisms of memory storage in neurons. I鈥檇 really like to know how he figured out how to do this in the 70s, using much cruder technology than we have now and California sea slugs as subjects.
OK, one last thing: tell us something that will blow our minds鈥�
Teenagers are how they are because it was evolutionarily useful. Long term, sticking to the safe and familiar can lead to stagnation and extinction. Having individuals strike out on their own can refresh the gene pool and uncover useful information. Hence, teens reject authority, crave independence, take risks and so on. Far from being a constant annoyance, teenagers may be the reason humanity is as smart and successful as it is.
