The Brain with David Eagleman

David measures the movement of facial muscles in two group of subjects and reveals why we mirror each other’s facial expressions - with important ramifications for botox-users.

David meets Hasan Nuhanovic who describes his harrowing experiences of genocide during the Bosnian war. Can genocide be understood as a neural phenomenon?

One of the ways we navigate the social world is by judging other people’s intentions. David hosts a puppet show for babies to demonstrate that humans come equipped with social antennae.

When we watch someone else in pain our brains run a simulation of what that pain feels like. This ability to imagine another's pain is the basis of how we relate to each other and explains why stories can be so powerful.

Genocide is only possible when dehumanization happens on a massive scale, and propaganda is the tool used to do that. Propaganda plugs directly into neural networks, and dials down the degree to which one group cares about another.

The amazing case of John Robison, whose Aspergers changed following a course of transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS. John’s transformation reveals something that we all unconsciously do every day when we interact with each other.

An experiment to mimic social rejection reveals that being socially excluded activates networks involved in pain.

The Stroop test allows you to feel the pull of rival networks competing with each other as you try to name a color.

An analysis of 1,000 decisions made by judges in parole hearings revealed that one factor made prisoners three times more likely to be granted parole.

Experience the trolley dilemma and decide for yourself whether you would trade one life for four lives. Two trolley dilemmas involve very different systems in the brain.

An experiment where people have to watch distressing images reveals that the brain has a finite amount of willpower to draw on.

Every time you are faced with a decision, there is a storm of activity inside your brain as rival networks compete to win.