Summary: Better self-control begins with an understanding of the psychological factors that affect behavior. Section one of this program focuses on the influence of brain structure, brain chemistry, and genetics on behavior; section two illustrates key concepts of psychoanalytic theory; and section three distinguishes between classical and operant conditioning. Strengths and limitations of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Hiding deep within the human mind-or perhaps closer to its surface than many would care to know-are forces that can cause one person to assault and kill another. This program studies the primal centers of the brain and the behaviors they control in order to gain an understanding of violence. Illustrating the role of brain chemicals like dopamine and serotonin as well as social conditioning that...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: For decades, IQ tests have been the gold standard for measuring intelligence. But is one standardized test really adequate for every taker? This program advocates a different approach, creating an array of unusual challenges to assess brainpower and positing an argument for the interplay of multiple intelligences. Assisted by the insights of Harvard's Howard Gardner and experts using brain...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Some people wander, get dressed, even eat in their sleep. Others lash out in violent ways. Is it possible that people can commit complex crimes-even murder-while walking in their sleep? With only a dead victim and a seemingly disoriented suspect at the scene of the crime, it's hard to know for sure. This program explores the question, following extensive sleep tests performed on accused...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Is the most exhilarating of human emotions simply nature's way of keeping our species alive and reproducing? This program studies the behavior of men and women as they experience the magical feeling of attraction; it also presents a lively look at what happens inside a love-struck brain. Commentary from renowned anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher reveals the significance of vocal cords, sense of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Using sophisticated 3-D animation, this program, divided into two parts, takes viewers on a journey deep into the brain to study the effects of the three substances. The first part illustrates the major functions of the brain and shows how its principal cells, the neurons, communicate with each other through electrical and chemical signals. In the second part, animated molecules of nicotine,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: What conditions of physical attraction tend to subtly speak out to members of the opposite sex? Why is there typically a fundamental difference in attitudes between men and women toward sexual relations? What physiological factors can influence men and women to stray from their partners? This program seeks to answer those and other questions as it sheds light on the mystery of sexual...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Who should have access to our thoughts, and to what degree? This program presents some of the current scientific research on the thought processes of the human brain, with special attention paid to its clinical applications and its ethical implications. German philosophers Thomas Metzinger and John-Dylan Haynes explain neuroethics, or the social, legal, and ethical repercussions of brain...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: What happens in our brains when we think something is funny? Is laughter a form of self-defense? Can a joke be scientifically analyzed? This program studies the human response to humor from a physiological and psychological standpoint. Highlighting the importance of vocal cords in producing laughter, the program contrasts human and simian forms of humor and gives viewers an evolutionary...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Busting some gender-related beliefs while supporting others, this program shows that brain chemistry doesn't fit neatly into male and female categories. Five men and five women are put through scientific experiments, exploring major sex-related brain functions-including emotional recognition, empathy, competition, communication, and basic cognition. Candid camera sessions reveal male and female...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Is there such a thing as a perfect recollection or photographic memory? This program examines that question and others related to the brain's ability to store knowledge. Using a wide range of examples, the program demonstrates that even the sharpest mental recording is subjective, selective, incomplete, even faulty. Students also learn how the performance of elite athletes may be tied to muscle...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: What is the difference between the mind and the brain? Are they separable? Are they even quantifiable? And where does the soul fit in? In this thought-provoking program, experts including Oxford mathematician Sir Roger Penrose, cognitive scientist Dr. Daniel Dennett, and cyber-age techno-visionary Jaron Lanier contemplate the social and moral impact of brain research and questions such as how...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: How well do we understand the neurology of learning? Why does the brain's ability to learn diminish as we age? Can science find a way to extend brain "fitness," even for the very old? This program addresses those questions as it describes important medical experiments and studies. Topics include the central role of nerve cell connections in learning and cognitive development; cerebral...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Humans may be the only species to shed tears. Does that make crying a strictly human act? This program explores the deep well of animal instinct that, shaped by eons of evolution, still informs our expression of grief, fear, anger, and even joy. Focusing on the development of distress signals in early hominid infant behavior, the program investigates differences in crying between adults and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Are the brain and the mind one and the same? How big a role does environment play in cognitive development? Does consciousness have a physical location? This program explores these and other fundamental questions concerning the evolution and function of the human brain. Computer graphics and commentary from an array of leading international neuroscientists provide insights into the human...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: We often think of memory as a record of facts, but it is also a web of sensations and emotions-and a vehicle for traveling, so to speak, through time. This program explores the mechanisms of human recollection, presenting new case studies and medical findings that reveal the complexity of the brain's memory center. Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Randy Buckner explains his research into memory...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: From prenatal Mozart to hothousing, the debate surrounding intelligence and how it is best cultivated is a controversial one. But is there really an optimal window of opportunity for neural development? This program invites John T. Bruer, author of The Myth of the First Three Years; Colin Blakemore, of Oxford University; UCLA's Paul Thompson; Bill Greenough, of the University of Illinois; and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: It can turn a hard-driving, energetic person into a walking zombie-exhausted, confused, and unable to work. This program sheds light on the mysterious illness known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which has no known cause or cure. Case studies feature a former congressional worker who eventually found it impossible to perform her duties on Capitol Hill, and a clinical psychologist whose personal...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: The question of animal intelligence has been debated for centuries. In recent years, science has come closer to proving that animals think and feel-perhaps not at the level of humans, but in ways that are nevertheless authentic. This classic program brings viewers into the midst of eye-opening zoological, neurological, and psychological research, revealing what many scientists believe to be...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Pain has a clear purpose: warning the body of invasion and other dangers. But the connection between pain and the human mind is more mysterious. This program examines various types of pain and their frequently elusive neurological aspects; it also presents methods, both clinical and alternative, that help long-term sufferers cope with debilitating pain. Distinguishing between acute and chronic...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Which is more enjoyable-the satisfaction of desire, or the sensation of longing itself? This program looks at the emotional, neurological, and genetic aspects of seeking and gaining pleasure, analyzing close ties between the search for gratification and the preservation of self and species. Examining a wide range of ways to follow one's bliss-including sex, artistic creation, the consumption of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: IQ used to be the standard by which all were judged. Today, EQ allows for a broader understanding that encompasses attributes such as logical, linguistic, musical, kinetic, and emotional intelligences. This program provides an in-depth analysis of intelligence, including how it is defined and its neural components. Leading experts such as Harvard's Howard Gardner; Daniel Goleman, author of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program uncovers what happens in our minds when we learn, remember, and imagine. It reveals how neurons and synapses lay down knowledge in the brain; ways to improve our ability to acquire knowledge, including increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids; how to manipulate memory to recall information more easily; the powerful influence of subliminal messages; and what actually happens during a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: As far as Dr. Susan Greenfield is concerned, learning, memory, and even the process of individuation should be understood as a restless brain adapting moment by moment to the environment it encounters. This program charts the changes in the human brain as it develops from infancy to adulthood. The brain's extraordinary adaptability, as demonstrated by its ability to reorganize its neural...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005