Meet the Man Reimagining Neuroscience: Michael Edward Johnson

I’m speaking with theoretical neuroscientist Michael Edward Johnson — who, after spending seven years researching consciousness and writing the book Principia Qualia, has developed a revolutionary theory that could fundamentally change how we understand trauma, meditation, and human wellbeing. Mike’s theory of ‘latches’ — what he calls vasocumputation — may provide a testable and concrete biological mechanism for how trauma gets stored in the body, and how to release it effectively. This sounds nerdy and abstract, but it’s my belief that if his claims can be tested and validated — it would revolutionize the medical system and allow somatic modalities or MDMA-assisted therapy to be compared and tested side-by-side in their efficacy and we could harness the scientific method for ways to release trauma. Official Links 👋  Follow Michael on Twitter/X @johnsonmxe 📝  Read Michael's Research + Writing on opentheory.net ✏️  Michael's deep dive twitter thread on Vasocomputation Connect + Follow Jonny: 🐦  Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller 💌  Subscribe to the Curious Humans Newsletter 🫁  Learn more about Nervous System Mastery 🙋‍♂️  Join Five to Thrive — a zero-cost educational email series. 📝  Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free) 🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery This is my flagship 5-week bootcamp designed to equip you with evidence-backed protocols to cultivate calm and emotional regulation. Our seventh cohort will run in Spring 2025 ~ and applications are currently open. My sense is that if this conversation resonates with you, then you'd likely be a great fit for our upcoming cohort. This curriculum represents my attempt to distill everything I've learned in recent years about creating the conditions for our nervous system's flourishing.  It's run in an intensive cohort-based way since this is, in my experience, the most efficient way to embody and practice the protocols. Previous students have shared how partaking improved their sleep and quality of relationships and tapped into deeper states of joy, clarity, and confidence in their lives. We've had over 1000 students have completed this training, and many have said that it has been the most impactful thing they've ever done for their personal growth — so if you're intrigued at all, you can find more details and apply to join this year's cohort over at nsmastery.com Further Ways to Support the Podcast: 🎙️  I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!) 🎧  I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend. 😎  RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference! 🤖  I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps 📹  Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF 📝  Test out my favourite journaling app using journal prompts that have made a huge impact in my life.