Video Game Brains
Violent video games can affect brain activity well after the games are over.
Collecting & Hoarding
A listener asks why some people become collectors and hoarders.
Eye-Witness Accuracy
Tracking witnesses’ eye movements may help reveal what they’ve really seen.
Old Brains
Preserved brains from the early 20th century may shed light on mental illness.
Podcast for 23 December 2011
CHANGING BRAINS - Why London taxi drivers have bigger brains, how eye movements reveal what we've really seen, and why emulating the eye movements of experts produces better surgeons. And, what long-dead brains can tell us about mental illness. Also: how violent video games could be changing young men's brains.
Taxi Driver Brains
The brains of would-be London taxi drivers get bigger during their multi-year training for the job.
Depression Prevention Training
Researchers hope to stave off depression by training kids to gravitate toward positive images.
Wasp Face Processing
Paper wasps, which can recognize each other, seem to process faces in ways similar to humans.
Placebos & Pain
Can the placebo effect be harnessed to help people with chronic pain?
Dreams & Emotions
REM sleep, in which dreams occur, also may help take the edge off painful memories.
Podcast for 2 December 2011
THE BRAIN, MOOD & BEHAVIOR - Could dreaming help heal emotional wounds? The relationship between the placebo effect and chronic pain. New research into the genetics of empathy. Also: a computer program to help prevent depression in girls, and exploring sex differences in mood disorders.
Posture & Numbers
People tend to underestimate numbers when they lean to the left, and overestimate them when they lean to the right.
Sex & Mood Disorders
Researchers are studying how female and male rats respond differently to stress in order to shed light on why women are disproportionately affected by mood disorders.
Changing IQ
Contrary to expectations, some teenagers' IQ scores changed significantly over a four-year period.
Podcast for 28 October 2011
SCIENCE UNDERWATER - Why the seas of the future may belong to jellyfish, why fish tanks can be breeding grounds for aggression, how chatter between ocean bacteria contributes to climate change, and good news about sea turtles. Also, scientists unveil the first underwater cloaking device.
Podcast for 21 October 2011
PREVENTIVE HEALTH - Vitamin D and ethnicity, a breath test for toxins, drinking and the immune system, measuring pain in the brain, and a new weapon to combat allergic reactions.
Measuring Pain
Researchers have developed a way to measure pain in the brain.
Kids & Marshmallows Revisited
An update on a landmark experiment probes the neurological roots of delayed gratification.
Taste Neurons
The brain has special hotspots that are sensitive to each type of taste.
Mind Movies
A computer algorithm partially reconstructs movies from patterns of brain activity in people watching them.
Podcast for 30 September 2011
HORMONES & BEHAVIOR - Testosterone and fatherhood, the genetics of oxytocin and depression, gender and spatial reasoning revisited, where taste is found in the brain, and more.
Oxytocin & Optimism
A gene variant may influence a person’s outlook on life.
Football & Artificial Intelligence
Computer scientists used football footage to develop a sophisticated kind of artificial intelligence.
A Deadly Attraction
Rats are supposed to be afraid of cats, but a tiny pathogen has turned the relationship around for its own benefit.