To my partner, Catherine Hicks, for her support throughout this entire process, comments on early drafts, and her ability to withstand much, much conversation about “trying to understand the brain by poking it,” or, neuroscience.
To my family, who always said, “Someday, you’ll write a book about this!” I hope that you’ll still be proud even if this book isn’t about whatever that was.
To Mark Humphries, Steve Ramirez, and Elaine Reynolds, for reading early drafts and providing pivotal feedback on this project.
To Ed Callaway and Anne Churchland, for being stellar examples of what research advisors can and should be.
To Vindia Fernandez, Kyle Frankovich, Daniela Hernandez, Chanel Matney, Esther Odekunle, Kachi Odoememe, Alex Naka, David Raposo, Carsen Stringer, Caitlin Vander Wheele, and Jean Mary Zarate for their willingness to share their time and experiences.
To everyone who provided input at some point along the way: Anne Churchland, Christine Liu, Justin Kiggins, Euiseok Kim, Konrad Kording, Jim Marshel, Fumitaka Osakada, John Reynolds, Massimo Scanziani, Jason Shepherd, Karel Svoboda, Ben Throesch, and Kay Tye.
To those who have played a pivotal role in my development as a writer, especially Kira Goldenberg and Nadja Oertelt, as well as every professor who has told me that I overuse commas.
To the Society for Neuroscience, particularly Maya Sapiurka and Sylvie Ravier, for pointing me toward useful resources.