#SoCaltech: Richard Andersen

“What sort of introspection have I gotten from these studies? They have led me to think about what my internal thinking process is. And for me, from the time I wake up, I’m internally talking to myself. We’ve been asking around, and some people do this, and some people don’t. They feel that they have more pure internal thoughts that don’t have language attached. So, it’s led to not only introspection for me but members of the lab as well. I have a feeling that it’s going to be hard to tease these things out. We’ll have to think of very clever experiments.”

—Richard Andersen is Caltech’s James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience and the director and leadership chair of the T&C Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center. You can watch his November 8, 2023, Watson Lecture, “Unlocking Movement: Helping Paralyzed People Use Thought to Control Computers and Robotic Limbs,” online. To view other Watson Lectures, visit Caltech’s YouTube channel.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.