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Episodes
- S1 E1 - Is Your Brain Perfectly Designed?February 2, 201733minBegin by debunking one of the most fundamental myths about the human brain. Along the way, discover how our brains are shaped by evolution and experience, which neurons are responsible for self-awareness and motor coordination, and why the brain is still very much a work in progress.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E2 - Are Bigger Brains Smarter?February 2, 201730minWhen it comes to brains, size doesn't matter as much as you think. Here, explore concepts including the Encephalization quotient (which compares brain mass to body mass), the "g" factor (a long-sought-after standard of cognitive ability), and the lessons scientists have learned from studying the brain of Albert Einstein.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E3 - Is Mental Illness Just a Chemical Imbalance?February 2, 201732minAccording to Dr. Viskontas, major psychiatric illnesses aren't just the result of chemical concentrations in the brain. Focus here on an intriguing exploration of two disorders that have proven to be far more complicated and nuanced in our understanding of mental illness: schizophrenia and depression.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E4 - Are Creative People Right-Brained?February 2, 201728minThink your brain is divided into a creative side and an analytical side? Think again. The two hemispheres of your brain are actually quite interconnected. Discover what neuroimaging has revealed about the way our brains think and create, and why it's all about collaboration - not competition.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E5 - How Different Are Male and Female Brains?February 2, 201731minWe're always hearing about studies that find significant differences the brains of men and women. How should we be thinking about gender differences in the brain? How are these differences misinterpreted? What are the differences in the male and female amygdala and hippocampus? Which genders express which emotions more openly?Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E6 - How Accurate is Your Memory?February 2, 201730minUnpack the accuracy of your memories and how information is encoded, stored, and retrieved in the brain. Examine how Alzheimer's disease and amnesia affect the brain's ability to remember and explore the "Seven Sins of Memory," including absentmindedness, memory blocking, and misattribution.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E7 - Do You Only Use 10% of Your Brain?February 2, 201730minAre you using your brain to its fullest potential? Here, clear up some of the mystery about how much of our brain power we're using. As you'll learn, you use a lot more of your brain than you think, whether you're practicing a new skill or simply zoning out in front of the television.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E8 - Do You Perceive the World as It Really Is?February 2, 201729minAccording to Dr. Viskontas, the biggest myth about our senses is that they reflect the world as it actually is. Using vision as an example, discover how your sensory system uses shortcuts and fills in details to create, from portions of the environment, the illusion that you're perceiving reality objectively.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E9 - Is Your Brain Too Smart for Magic Tricks?February 2, 201730minWe've all been fooled by a magic trick at one point or another. But we rarely stop to think about how magicians are simply manipulating pre-existing shortcomings in our minds. Here, explore some of the neurological principles magicians rely on, including selective attention, inattention blindness, and change blindness.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E10 - Is Your Brain Objective?February 2, 201731minContrary to what you might believe, we don't weight evidence equally before building personal beliefs. Instead, we're beholden to confirmation bias. Is this a bug our brains could do without? Is it an evolutionary advantage? Can it also lead to sublime experiences (like appreciating a piece of music)?Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E11 - Do You Have 5 Independent Senses?February 2, 201728minDiscover why your senses aren't as separate as you think - and why you actually have more than five. Topics include proprioception (sensing where you are) and synesthesia (a neurological condition in which the stimulation of one sense causes the involuntary activation of a different sense).Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E12 - Can Certain Foods Make You Smarter?February 2, 201731minIn this look at "brain food," consider the scientific truths behind the food fads that make headlines; test out the myths associated with foods like fish oil, vitamins, power drinks, chocolate, and tea; and ponder the potential of smart pills (known as nootropics) such as Adderall and Ritalin.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E13 - Can Brain Games Make You Smarter?February 2, 201730minAn increased focus among scientists on neuroplasticity (changes in the brain's biology) has led to a flurry of brain-training games and tools aimed at improving our cognitive skills. Here, probe the potential of these games, and consider some alternate ways to train your brain, including exercising and socializing.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E14 - Does Your Brain Shut Down during Sleep?February 2, 201728minWhat, exactly, happens when you fall asleep? Why do our brains need sleep in order to function? What are some of the neurological dangers of not getting enough sleep? What are the sleep patterns of other animals, and how do they compare to our own? Dr. Viskontas provides some answers.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E15 - Are Your Decisions Rational?February 2, 201729minWhen we make decisions, we're actually swayed by things that any truly rational human being would ignore. Why do our brains work this way? Explore the "mental laziness" hardwired into our nature, and why we easily fall prey to superficial judgments. Central to this idea: the brain's two thinking systems.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E16 - Are You Always Conscious while Awake?February 2, 201731minProbe the eternal "problem" of consciousness - perhaps the most difficult topic in all of neuroscience. How have scientists tried to determine what consciousness is and how it works? Along the way, examine several theories, including the intriguing idea that consciousness is nothing more than a neural afterthought.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E17 - Are Other Animals Conscious?February 2, 201729minContinue exploring consciousness with a consideration of its appearance in other animals. Scientific studies in animals ranging from primates to octopi have uncovered some illuminating insights into how animals can potentially show complex behaviors (including compassion, self-recognition, and generosity) we typically associate exclusively with conscious humans.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E18 - Can You Multitask Effectively?February 2, 201730minMultitasking is a critical skill in today's world. But does it really work as well as you think? Dr. Viskontas lays bare the neurology of the multitasker and uses key studies to draw several powerful conclusions, including that doing two things at once is impossible when both tasks require your conscious attention.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E19 - Are Dreams Meaningful?February 2, 201731minConsider some of the potential roots (and purposes) of dreams and how neuroscientists study them. While dreams continue to remain mysterious, some theories posit that dreams play a role in consolidating your memory, and that they can be driven by emotional events (including traumatic ones).Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E20 - Can Brain Scans Read Your Mind?February 2, 201730minDiscover what neuroimaging can - and can't - tell us about how the human mind works. First, examine what brain scans are actually showing us. Then, consider three regions of the brain prone to common misunderstanding in the media: the amygdala, the reward circuitry, and the prefrontal cortex.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E21 - Can Adult Brains Change for the Better?February 2, 201729minJust because you're an adult doesn't mean you can't still learn and master new things. After considering how neuroplasticity works in a toddler's brain, explore how exercise and musical training are two ways to influence the growth of new neurons and the formation of new synapses (known as neurogenesis).Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E22 - Do Special Neurons Enable Social Life?February 2, 201731minFrom mirror neurons to von Economo cells, learn the role that special neurons might play in human social behavior. Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience have expanded our understanding of how we interact with and understand people, but myths about these special neurons abound.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E23 - Is Your Brain Unprejudiced?February 2, 201731minYou might not be racist, but your brain likely is. How did neuroscientists come to this startling conclusion? And what can we, as individuals, do about it? Find out in this look at the neurology of prejudice, implicit and explicit biases, stereotyping, and in-group preferences.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
- S1 E24 - Does Technology Make You Stupid?February 2, 201732minPonder several prevalent myths about the relationship between technology and the brain. Among these: smartphones are killing our attention spans, social media is addictive (and leads us to be less social), computers make us less intelligent, and search engines are destroying our memory.Subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Collection or The Great Courses Living or purchase
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