Science and Nature

The Brain with David Eagleman

Neuroscientist David Eagleman explores the human brain in an epic series that reveals the ultimate story of us, why we feel and think the things we do. This ambitious project blends science with innovative visual effects and compelling personal stories, and addresses some big questions. By understanding the human brain, we can come close to understanding humanity.

Who will we Be?

54m 41s

Dr. David Eagleman journeys into the future and asks what’s next for the human brain, and for our species. He reveals that in the future our descendants may be so different to us that we will be strangers to them.

Episodes

  • Who will we Be?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Who will we Be?

    S1 E6 - 54m 41s

    Dr. David Eagleman journeys into the future and asks what’s next for the human brain, and for our species. He reveals that in the future our descendants may be so different to us that we will be strangers to them.

  • Why Do I Need You?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Why Do I Need You?

    S1 E5 - 55m 11s

    Dr. David Eagleman explores how the brain relies on other brains to thrive and survive. This neural interdependence underpins our need to group together, and our ability to do the very best and the very worst of things to each other.

  • How Do I Decide?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Do I Decide?

    S1 E4 - 55m 11s

    Dr. David Eagleman takes a journey through the unseen world of decisions and how they get made inside your brain. Your emotions, your energy level, and your memories all come together in concert to help you neural networks decide what to do next.

  • Who Is in Control?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Who Is in Control?

    S1 E3 - 55m 11s

    Dr. David Eagleman explores the great deception that greets us each morning when we awake: it feels as though we are in conscious control of our lives but the truth is that we are not. Instead almost every action, every decision, every belief that we hold is driven by parts of the brain that we have no access to.

  • What Makes Me?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    What Makes Me?

    S1 E2 - 55m 11s

    Dr. David Eagleman explores memory as an important pillar of self, and reveals that rather than being a faithful record of our past, memory is fallible and often unreliable, making our life of memories more personal mythology than digital recording.

  • What is Reality?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    What is Reality?

    S1 E1 - 55m 11s

    Dr. David Eagleman takes viewers on an extraordinary journey, exploring how the brain, locked in silence and darkness without direct access to the world, conjures the rich and beautiful world we all take for granted.

Extras + Features

  • Episode 4 | Energy and Judgement: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 4 | Energy and Judgement

    S1 E4 - 2m 4s

    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.

  • How Do I Decide? | Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Do I Decide? | Preview

    S1 E4 - 30s

    Explore how the brain navigates the myriad of conscious and unconscious decisions we make daily.

  • Episode 3 | The Role of Consciousness: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 3 | The Role of Consciousness

    S1 E3 - 2m 40s

    David describes some situations where the unconscious brain is making decisions on our behalf. So why are we conscious? David enlists the help of a man dressed as a bee to point out one of its important roles.

  • Episode 3 | Ian Waterman’s Inspiring Story: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 3 | Ian Waterman’s Inspiring Story

    S1 E3 - 2m 13s

    Ian Waterman has lost the ability to control his body without exerting extraordinary conscious effort. Ian’s condition reminds us of the amazing reach of the unconscious brain.

  • Episode 3 | What If We Have No Free Will?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 3 | What If We Have No Free Will?

    S1 E3 - 2m 34s

    What if we have no free will? What if we are just systems that move from one state to another in a predictable fashion? Using a tank of ping pong balls, David demonstrates why we don’t need to worry.

  • Episode 3 | Steered by the Unconscious: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 3 | Steered by the Unconscious

    S1 E3 - 2m 41s

    In this experiment men were asked to look at photographs of women’s faces and make judgments about them. They had no conscious awareness of what was influencing their answers.

  • Episode 3 | David Takes on a World Champion: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 3 | David Takes on a World Champion

    S1 E3 - 4m 6s

    Austin Naber is a world-record holder in cup stacking. He practices 3-4 hours every day. How will David fare against him? EEG helmets capture the differences in their brain activity, and reveal a deeper truth about why so much of what the brain does is unconscious.

  • Who is in Control? | Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Who is in Control? | Preview

    S1 E3 - 30s

    Explore the great deception that greets us each morning when we awake: it feels as though we are in conscious control of our lives but the truth is that we are not.

  • Episode 3 | Different People, Different Paths: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 3 | Different People, Different Paths

    S1 E3 - 2m 1s

    Why are there differences between us? Why is it that we behave differently when faced with the same choices? A confluence of our genes and the environment we are born into send each of us off on very different life trajectories.

  • Episode 2 | Stuck in the Present: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 2 | Stuck in the Present

    S1 E2 - 2m 41s

    Henry Molaison couldn't form new memories. His case reveals something important about the brain’s ability to think into the future. Both the past, and the future are constructions of the same networks in the brain.

  • Episode 2 | Nuns and the Aging Brain: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 2 | Nuns and the Aging Brain

    S1 E2 - 3m 37s

    A study of nuns’ brains produces an unexpected revelation. A third of the brains tested at autopsy showed signs of Alzheimer’s but cognitive tests had revealed that the brain owners had shown no symptoms of this terrible disease. What was going on?

  • What Makes Me? | Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    What Makes Me? | Preview

    S1 E2 - 30s

    Explore how we are our brain, how our personality, emotions and memories are encoded as neural activity. The process of becoming continues through our lives. We change our brain and our brain changes us. Premieres Wednesday, October 21, 2015, 10-11 p.m. ET.

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