Summary: The fascinating interplay of genetic predispositions and experience in the development of the brain after birth is demonstrated in this program filmed at the Brain Development Laboratory at the University of Oregon. Three profiles of plasticity are depicted with compelling footage of behavioral, MRI, and EEG research into the development of visual perception and language acquisition from...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Not every machine can recharge and repair itself on a regular basis. Fortunately, the human machine can-quickly rebounding to a state of alertness, adaptability, and high-gear action. This program explores the staggering capabilities of the body's interlinked devices, from the sleeping brain to the wide-awake reproductive system. Viewers learn about the photographic powers of the eye, which...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Some people suffer chronic pain long after an injury has healed, while others can jump from a two-story building and not feel a thing. This film reveals the physiological foundations of both scenarios as it examines the mechanics of pain perception. Viewers meet a family whose unique genetic code has lent insight into the sensation of pain, while a man who cut off his own arm to save his life...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: When he was 29, Stephen Heywood was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and told he had 2 to 5 years to live. This episode of Frontline follows Stephen and his family as they refuse to accept the doctors' death sentence. The Heywoods' tale shows a passionate, acerbic and relentlessly hopeful reaction to a disease that transforms their lives. They confront the encroaching paralysis of ALS with...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program from NOVA presents author and neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks and his exploration of the link between music and the brain. While working with patients who struggle to cope with a number of debilitating medical conditions, including autism and Tourrette syndrome, Dr. Sacks found that the therapeutic effects of music help many. Four remarkable case studies from Dr. Sacks’ book,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this TEDTalk MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or deactivate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control Boyden has managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD as well as certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural prosthetics. Session host Juan...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: Physiatrist and biomedical engineer Todd Kuiken is building an artificial arm that connects with the human nervous system, improving motion and control, and even allowing the sensation of touch. In this TEDTalk, Kuiken explains how the mechatronic device works and why it's superior to other forms of prostheses. Kuiken is joined onstage by Amanda Kitts, who lost her arm in an accident, for a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: For engine power and endurance, nothing beats the human heart. Over a 12-hour period it propels enough blood to fill 22,132 wine glasses. The human chassis isn't bad, either. Its bones are ultra-light and tough as steel, not to mention that they produce 139 million blood cells every minute. Using animation and dramatizations, this program offers up surprising and enlightening facts about the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Emotions deeply color individual human existence and shape all aspects of our interpersonal and intellectual experiences. In this program, animations and fMRI images introduce students to the sub-cortical emotional circuits in the brain and chemical processes that produce emotional responses and contribute to decision making and mental health. Live action sequences, both in laboratory and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: Using the resources of the UCLA Brain Mapping Center, this program illustrates the development of neuroscience from its classical reliance on information from brain injuries and autopsies through current-day insights discovered with electronic microscopes, EEG equipment, PET scans, and MRI machines. Examples of research that utilizes these tools are presented, including a study on the role of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Julie loves the glorious colors associated with the sound of a rooster crowing, while Mandi remembers phone numbers by their hues. Until John read a newspaper article about synesthesia in later life, he thought that everyone saw the days of the week as various shades of blue. In this program people with synesthesia describe their experiences and perceptions, and the benefits and drawbacks of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: "People have wanted to look inside the human mind, the human brain, for thousands of years. Well, coming out of the research labs just now, for our generation, is the possibility to do that," says Christopher deCharms. In this TEDTalk, the neuroscientist and inventor demonstrates how rtfMRI displays brain activity in real time - and explains how by understanding cause-and-effect brain...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: How can we begin to understand the way the brain works? Perhaps in the same way that cities can be understood: by making a map. In this visually stunning TEDTalk, Allan Jones shows the audience how his team is mapping out which genes are turned on in which brain region, and what the implications of this gene expression are. As CEO of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Jones is leading an...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011