Hollywood filmmakers create mind-bending sensory illusions; an illusion causes people to "feel" via their eyes; one blind man can "see" with his ears.
When it comes to mastering and manipulating attention, some of the world's leading experts aren't scientists; they're magicians like David Copperfield. While the brain's attention acts a bit like a spotlight to filter and make sense of a busy world, it can be easily controlled and deceived. Copperfield and a team of experts test, trick and fool using an elegant form of attention control.
With memory, things are not always as they seem: Details go missing, recollections change, and sometimes our brains fill in the blanks and create false visual memories. Our experts are on a mission to find out where memories reside in the brain by examining every millimeter for clues. Investigating every piece of the memory puzzle, from how we recognize faces even if they have been digitally distorted to how we can move memories from short-term to long-term storage.
Think your field of vision is really in focus, or that your brain is focusing on everything happening in front of you? Think again. Brain Games reveal; the secrets behind the mysteries of focus and attention.
Ever wonder why a watched pot never boils? See how the brain can actually warp and shift time, giving a false impression of the order and the speed of events. Neuroscientist Dr. Chess Stetson explains the oddball effect using a series of pictures. Illusionist Apollo Robbins uses juggling pins to demonstrate what happens when the brain doesn't have enough time to process a large amount of information, while host Jason Silva plays with the speed of sound and light to find out why movies and television shows are sometimes out of sync.
This is a show about your brain and how it perceives motion. Evolving in a world that is constantly moving, the human brain had to develop a pretty sophisticated sense of motion in order to survive. This episode stops to ask some deceptively simple questions-What really is motion? Is the movement that you see real? Or is the wiring of your brain's motion detectors merely being fooled? We explore the science behind how your brain detects and interprets motion, and you'll see how easily this hard-wiring can be fooled... for better and for worse.
Our experts examine the brain's internal tug of war between fear and rationalization. Whether boarding an airplane or walking down a spooky street at night, we'll see how dread and anticipation build feelings of fear. Putting our host's emotions to the test, Apollo Robbins challenges Jason Silva to a game of Russian roulette. Then, with the help of John Harlacher, co-director of one of New York City's scariest haunted houses, we "Fear Factor" a group of volunteers. Without their senses of sight, sound, or control of their limbs, see how they react to snakes, cockroaches and rats... or so they think.
By exposing us to specific stimuli, Jason Silva can prime our brains to respond in certain ways. See how identical twins interview for the same job, in the same clothes, with the same resume. They even give the exact same answers-but the order of the words in their answers is slightly different. The result? One twin comes off negative, and the other gets the job. Would you believe that Texas seceded from the U.S. if a crazy-looking guy told you? Probably not, but what if a news reporter with a microphone did? This episode unveils the subtle tactics that advertisers, marketers and con men can use to get you to do what they want, without you noticing.
Bet you could explain something as basic as how a zipper works? Or correctly draw something as simple as a bicycle? If you said yes, you likely bet wrong... but don't worry it's not just you! When you stop and think about it, you're probably not that aware of all of the things you don't understand. The fact is we go through our daily lives feeling pretty confident in our knowledge and understanding of the world, but that confidence is mostly an illusion. In this episode of Brain Games, we'll show you firsthand just how the "illusion of knowledge" plagues the human brain and why we fall victim, again and again, to the notion that we understand more than we actually do.
From the second you're born, you're a unique individual. You'll make choices about your friends, your career, your relationships, where you live, and how you dress. But one thing you don't get to choose is whether you were born a man or a woman - and that flip of the genetic coin will play a huge role in determining how you think about...well, almost everything. In this episode, we find out once and for all which gender's hard drive is wired better...for doing what.
Seeing is believing, right? Not necessarily. It all depends on your perspective. In this episode of Brain Games, mind-bending illusions will show you the ways in which your visual perceptions can be surprisingly off.
Every time you make a decision, your brain enters an often invisible battle between risk and reward. Through a series of addictive interactive games, surprising experiments, and relatable experts you'll learn astonishing facts about how you make decisions - and how to get better at making them.
All the latest research says that your brain needs exercise to stay youthful and fit. Wonder junkie Jason Silva and deception specialist Apollo Robbins are going to put your brain to the test with a serious workout.
Brain Games reveals how optical illusions are a great way of showing the powerful mechanisms at work that allow your brain to perceive three dimensions.
Host Jason Silva and deception specialist Apollo Robbins break down why we lie and what happens in the brain, even though science tells us that the truth is physiologically and neurologically easier.
While it's long been believed that both your body and your brain deteriorate over time, recent studies show that may not always be the case. Some brain functions improve as we get older, while others don’t fully develop until later in life. In this episode, we explore your brain and how it doesn’t always act its age. Through a series of games and experiments, you'll discover how your daily routines might be aging your brain, and how you can actually slow down the clock.
Think you understand the colors you see every day? Think an apple is actually red, or a leaf is really green? Think again. This episode of Brain Games puts your brain to the ultimate test with a series of interactive games and fascinating experiments that will reveal a shocking truth—color is just an illusion created by your brain. We'll show you how some colors can make you fly, reveal ghostly colors that don't actually exist, and if you play along you’ll see how color helps keep you alive.
In this episode you'll play along with interactive games that unlock the secrets to attraction, learn how your brain quickly calculates what's attractive (or not), and discover how hidden formulas can predict who you consider beautiful. Explore the secrets of long-term relationships, and play along to discover just what it is that attracts two people together beyond conscious control—including a shocking revelation of the one body part that can often predict compatibility. From secret formulas to brainwave patterns, you'll see the mysteries of attraction revealed.
This is a show about your brain and trust. Does it sometimes seem like you have to be on your guard all the time against untrustworthy advertisers, politicians, and other people? So how do you maintain a level of trust in an untrustworthy world - and what is trust anyway? Through a series of fun and interactive games, you’ll learn to trust others a little more and your own brain a little less! Prepare to put your trust in Brain Games.
This is a show about your brain and stress. You'll see how your brain manages stress and how stress also manages you. From traffic jams to screaming babies, angry bosses to bill payments, you're surrounded by stress every day. But stress has a purpose, and you’ll discover why it's a good thing in many situations, even though it can overwhelm you. That said, don't let stress stress you out—there are ways to manage it! Through a series of interactive games and experiments, you’ll discover how stress works—and how to handle it better.
Whether it's remembering where you parked the car, or just finding the light switch in the morning, navigating your busy world can be tough. Luckily your brain has a built-in navigation system to help make sense of your surroundings. In fact, recent discoveries prove that the brain uses place cells and direction cells to help get us to where we're going. In this episode we explore spatial awareness. It's how your brain tells you where you are. Through a series of games and experiments we’ll test the boundaries of your brain’s hardwired sense of direction, and prove how you aren’t always aware of your surroundings or even your body. Plus you’ll learn a surprising technique to enhance your spatial memory.
Are you stuck with the brain you're born with, or can you improve it? It's easy to upgrade the electronic devices you rely on every day; can you do the same with your brain? The answer might surprise you. Discover how to take advantage of your brain's mental shortcuts, and how to be on the lookout for the little short circuits that can crash your system. We're going to hack your neural network to access secret mental software that can change your life, and if you play along you’ll get to try your hand at the only game PROVEN to boost your IQ.
Your mind and your body are connected in countless ways, some more mysterious than others. One might even call them "frenemies"—at times they work together like the best of friends, at others they fight like the fiercest of enemies. In this episode, we'll reveal what's happening when your brain betrays your body and the other way around. You'll learn some secrets about your body's reaction time as well as some physical feats that will baffle and amaze your friends.
Whether you're trying to get to the head of the class, earn the big promotion, or just find a parking spot—every day, you're competing. With yourself... and with others. So what is it about the human brain that makes you want to win—sometimes at all costs? In this episode we'll explore your brain and competition through a series of competitions! Each viewer will be assigned a team and play along as our Red and Blue teams duke it out in a head to head battle to determine the winner of “The Brain Games.” Along the way you'll learn what drives you to compete, why some people may be born more competitive, and how a little healthy rivalry can help you climb the ladder of success.
Everyone thinks they’re unique and independent, but how much of your behavior is based on how much your brain is copying from people around you? You’ll discover how you unconsciously adapt the way you behave, speak, and move according to who you’re talking to, who you’re trying to please, or who you’d like to be like in the future.
Join host Jason Silva in interactive games and experiments to explore your brain's capacity for compassion. Discover if you were born naughty or nice and explore the chances of finding a psychopath among your family and friends.
Learn all about addictions and why some can actually be good for you. Find out why you can't stop checking your phone and why that awful pop song gets stuck in your head. And, discover one of the most addictive sounds in the world.
Discover how language is the closest thing humans have to telepathy and how you communicate without words every day. Guest Sri Sarma, a biomedical-engineer from John Hopkins University, leads a discovery of language and how humans create meaning.
Nearly every choice you make involves some calculated risk. Explore how your brain evaluates risk in everyday situations and discover why we're all born as risk-takers. Learn to assess risk like your life depends on it, because it does.
Find out how the male brain and female brain differ when they are pitted against each other in games and experiments. Learn which gender is victorious in the battle of the sexes.
Learn about your superstition and why humans believe in things that have no basis in reality. Discover why your brain may be hardwired to be superstitious and if it's possible to read minds.
Discover the brain's role in your choice of food and what makes you hungry. Through interactive games and experiments, you will learn why you overeat and whether taking comfort in comfort food is good for you.
What if getting angry had less to do with what's going on around you, and more to do with what's going on inside your brain? Explore why your brain gets angry and what you can do about it.
Have you ever noticed that life is a series of routines, done in the same order, day after day? Whether you realize it or not, your daily routine is really a pattern. Learn how, when processing the world, your brain is always filling in the blanks.
The power of intuition--when you know something to be true without knowing why--is one of the mind's greatest mysteries. Test your intuition and learn how your brain makes decisions without you having to think about it.
Using segments from the 2014 summer season, this double-length special looks at whether people are wired for compassion, or anger, or both; take a look at how compassion and anger could be two sides of the same coin, part of a vital system your brain uses to keep you alive.
From knowing when to cross the street to avoiding hot stoves, your brain is constantly making judgments that you likely take for granted. We chalk it up to common sense - but just how common is it? Through interactive games and mind-bending challenges, unravel your mental shortcuts and learn how to harness the power of collective thinking. Play along to understand how your common sense can either lead you astray or keep you on the right track.
Whether you're a left-handed artist or a right-handed accountant, we all use both sides of our brains. But is there any science behind the notion that the left half or our brain is the creative side while the right half is more logical? In this episode about your left and right brain, we're going to put you through a series of games and experiments designed to find out how the two sides operate, what they really control, and whether or not one side of your brain dominates the other.
Have you ever wondered where your morality comes from? Is it ingrained in your brain, set by religion, or does society dictate what you deem as right or wrong? Through a series of interactive games and experiments, we'll test the strength of your moral fiber. Play along and discover how your brain makes countless moral decisions every single day. We're going to mess with your mind as we show you how outside influences like clothing, attitude, and your own evolutionary survival may sway your brain...and your morals.
This is a show about your brain and money. It's present in every corner of our lives-we earn it, spend it, manage it and often obsess over it, but how well do we really understand it? If you play along you'll understand why your brain gets excited when you think you're getting a deal, why there's no such thing as a free lunch, and you'll learn how to stop paying more for less.
Have you ever seen a ghost? Have you ever known something was going happen before it happened? If so, you may share a link with the paranormal. Or it might just be your brain playing tricks on you. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer in the supernatural, you have to admit there are things out there your brain just can't quite explain. This is an episode about your brain and the paranormal. Get ready for a series of games and experiments designed to prove you actually know more about the unknown than you think. We're going to put your sixth sense to the test by ...
In this episode about memory, we're going to show you what memory is, why you even have one, and why you keep forgetting where you put those darn keys! And if you play along you'll see why forgetting can actually be a good thing! It's going to be a night to remember...on Brain Games.
This is a show about your brain and the widely held myths you believe to be true. Through a series of fun and interactive games and experiments, you'll discover whether or not you only use 10% of your brain, if size really does matter and whether listening to Mozart actually makes you smarter.
Are you a unique individual? Are you a rebel - or do you give into peer pressure? If you think you have full control of your thoughts and actions - think again. It turns out the clothes you wear, the food you eat, and even the way you walk has less to do with you and more to do with everyone else. In this episode, we'll explore that your brain may be hardwired to want to fit in. Through a series of games and experiments, we'll prove that the decisions that make you yourself also make you a part of the crowd. Sure, some of what we're about to point out might make you ...
In this episode of Brain Games, we put your problem-solving skills to the test as we lead you through a labyrinth of logic games. Every day, you use logic to get things done, from dressing for the weather, choosing the best route to work, to deciding what to eat for dinner. Through a series of interactive games and experiments, you'll learn about the power and the limitations of your logical abilities. Studies have found that logic is something you develop and hone with practice, so play along as we present puzzles and illusions that will help strengthen your brain.
Your face is pretty remarkable. Whether you've got a baby face, a poker face, or a face only a mother could love... your identity is deeply rooted in your own unique face. And with over 40 muscles twisting and contorting, your face allows you to express a near infinite number of emotions and feelings. But not only are you capable of making faces -- your brain is also highly adept at recognizing what other peoples' faces are saying to you. In this episode about faces, we're going to mess with your mind and show you that there's more to a face than meets the eye. And if...
Do you sometimes hear a little voice in your head, an inner critic that keeps you from performing at your best? What if we told you there's a way to change what that voice is telling you that will improve your performance in just about anything you try? It might come as a surprise, but research shows thinking positive is more than just a warm and fuzzy idea. And in this episode about positive thinking, we're going to show you how thinking positive can change your thoughts, your reality, and even your life! We're going to mess with your mood to show you what really ...
Interactive games and experiments show how the brain is deceived; how scammers and con artists use the brains flaws to their advantage.
The average adult spends more than 220,000 hours - or roughly 25 years - in bed sleeping. That's one third of your life spent in slumber!1 But what exactly is sleep - and why do we spend so much time doing it? In what could be our most ambitious Brain Games experiment ever, we keep 3 volunteers awake for 36 hours in order to answer just that.
In this episode of Brain Games, you'll see how your brain gets tripped up by odd angles, how light and shadows play a crucial role in your perception of the world, how you can radically shift the way you see reality, and how your brain isn't always as honest with you as you think. Through a series of games and experiments, you'll discover why you shouldn't always believe what you see.
On this beastly episode, it's going to be heads vs. tails as we pit humans against animals in series of unique competitions. And if you play along, you'll discover how a bird can eat like a horse, a dog can be jealous like a baby, and how a chimp can make you look like a chump. Who will win this interspecies showdown? Don't bet on the wrong horse.
This is a show about your brain and its imagination. We often associate imagination with creativity and the arts, but we don't always think about how important it is to our daily lives. If you play along you'll see how you can use your imagination to solve daily problems, you'll learn how to tap into the imaginative process, and that, with a little help, you can keep the good ideas flowing.
A tour through the labyrinthine city of London; a metaphor for your brain and its numerous regions and intricate pathways.
Jason Silva travels to Israel to explore “The God Brain.” New research has uncovered that believing in God may be hardwired in our brains.
Host Jason Silva visits New Orleans, Louisiana, to explore the brain and bad behavior. A series of games and experiments demonstrate how the brain has an evolutionary predilection toward doing the wrong thing.
Everyone's brain changes throughout life, expanding and contracting, shifting points of views, adjusting perspectives - you wake up every day with a brand new brain. Host Jason Silva heads to the New Jersey Shore to show how the mind's point of view shifts over a lifetime.
There's no better place than New York City to mess with your mind. Host Jason Silva leads viewers through a series of games and experiments designed to show that the brain has far more than just five senses, and how each of these work together to influence interactions with the world.
Jason Silva meets several people in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who personify the word "survivor," and puts their brains to the test in a battery of challenges engineered to demonstrate what it takes to be a super survivor.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard go head-to-head in the Battle of the Sexes, a series of games designed to find out how men’s and women’s brains differ.
Actor Ted Danson and special guests Blue Man Group play along with host Keegan-Michael Key as we learn how our brains distinguish fact from fiction.
New Orleans Saints NFL quarterback Drew Brees puts his brain to the test with a series of mental challenges exploring how we can train our own minds to do as we want.
Actor Anthony Anderson and his co-star Marsai Martin face off in a series of games with Keegan-Michael Key.
Actor-musician Jack Black and his Tenacious D bandmate Kyle Gass learn how music affects the brain.
Keegan-Michael Key welcomes billionaire CEO and reality star Mark Cuban ("Shark Tank") to the show.
Actress Rebel Wilson joins Keegan-Michael Key to explore the power of the subconscious when it comes to falling in love.
Actress Tiffany Haddish and director Jordan Peele join Keegan-Michael Key to play a series of games.
Your brain and body are connected in countless ways, and some are more mysterious than others. In this episode, we find out which one is in charge. Through a series of interactive games and experiments, you'll learn how your brain tricks your body into doing some pretty silly things - and how factors like fear, age and stress affect both your body and your brain. We'll even teach you a secret about your body's reaction time that you can use to make a quick buck.
In this episode, we find out if people can trust their own brains. We'll see the many ways your brain deceives you and leads you astray on an almost daily basis. Most of us are willing to pass up free money, yet willingly risk having a stranger destroy our cell phone. You'll learn how you don't always "see" the full picture and why sometimes it's better to trust other people more and yourself a little less. Trust us - your mind will be blown.
Think brainteasers, word games, and visual illusions are fun? If you do, then this special episode of Brain Games is for you! We have chosen our best interactive games and put them all into a one-hour BRAIN GAMES special. Take these games and try them on your own friends and family to amaze them with how smart YOU are.
