In Pursuit of Neurogenesis
Pushing the boundaries of brain plasticity,, medical technology, and the quantified-self
I was born with a rare condition that effects my OPA1 gene, and as a result, I have been legally blind since before I can remember. In fact, we are all born legally blind, and most of us are lucky enough to learn to use our visual systems to acquire 20/20 vision, while others of us who are not so fortunate must learn to “see” with our other senses. It is said that the loss of one sense can give rise to heightened awareness of the others, and I believe this to be true.
I was born and grew up in Southern California, and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for ten years before moving to Vietnam, where my mother is from, and where I’ve been living for the past eight years. While my disability is a factor, I have never let it stop me from living a full and happy life. I received a BS in Business and an MBA from UC Berkeley and UC Davis, respectively, and have had a career as both an entrepreneur and entrepreneurship educator, starting and managing several businesses and teaching entrepreneurship at several universities in Vietnam. I now help to develop curriculum and programs to support the development of innovative new ventures and technology solutions that can reach to global markets.
Over the years, my eyesight had been getting worse. I have always been plagued by migraine headaches, and many years ago I realized that my migraines were correlated with eating food high in mono-sodium glutamate (MSG). I tried to avoid eating foods that contained MSG, but it’s often not easy to tell which foods have it and which don’t. For many years, my only remedy was Excedrin Migraine, but this lead to painful stomach ulcers, so it was not a good solution. Sometimes the pain in my eyes was so bad during a migraine that I couldn’t stand or walk, and I had to spend one to two days in bed to recover.
Earlier this year, I resolved to figure out what was causing my migraines, so started learning about it through a better understanding of the brain, known as neuroscience. I’ve always been interested in psychology and sociology, and found that technology has advanced to the point where we are now able to understand and explain behavior and cognition through neuroscience.
Last year, I started taking nutritional supplements and practicing daily exercise and meditation, and these practices helped me to have much better focus and concentration. While learning about the brain and its ability to change over time (referred to as neuroplasticity), I came across a technology called tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation), and purchased a device to try out. After some time, I noticed it was not only having a positive effect on my attention and learning, but also it was having a positive effect on my eyesight. This was the first time in my life my eyesight was actually getting better instead of worse. When I realized this, it nearly brought me to tears.
So, I’ve resolved to share my story and experiences. My hope is that those who have damage to their optic nerves (from diseases like glaucoma) can also benefit from this knowledge. I have taken the quantified self movement to the next level in order to monitor my progress through a technology called Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), which measures the thickness of the retina cells at the back of the eye, and produces an image like the one at the top of this page.
At the end of the day, I just want to live a normal life, to have the same abilities as everyone else. I don’t think less of myself as I am, but I dream of a day when I would be able to see the faces of my family and friends from afar, use my computer and phone at a normal distance, appreciate the beauty found in nature and fine works of art, and someday, look into the eyes of my wife and children with love and joy.
