Brain God Season 1, Episode 1: Machinery of Emotions

Under construction

Just over a hundred people are identified with a kind of superpower, the savants. What do studies from the past decade tell us about these special cases and why is having an exceptional memory not necessarily a good thing? Memory plays a decisive role in our lives, but we should not rely on it too much. The association between memory and language, speech and art will have given a decisive boost to human evolution. If language is fundamental, music assumes a structural and transversal role to human society, visible in the way it activates the brain itself. There is no record of any culture that has never used or created music. What is the reason for the power of music in the human brain? What effects can it have on the brains of children who practice music daily? Why should great leaders listen to music together before making important decisions? Why does music have the power of seduction? Are genius and creativity born with us or are they built?

51 min

The Missing Piece

We are probably experiencing the most frantic and urgent race in human history. European Union, USA, China and several other countries join forces to tackle one of the most complex missions that science has ever faced: decoding the human brain. If we do not discover for the brain what we have already discovered for the remaining organs, we will live longer but demented. There is a global urgency to find solutions to neuronal diseases and brain disorders that affect 2 billion people worldwide and will increase in the coming decades. Alzheimer's disease accounts for half of the cases of dementia and is expected to double by the middle of the century, if neuroscience fails to reverse the trend. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults.

Inexhaustible

The fusion between human brain and technology has already begun. Neuroscience and cybernetics come together to create a new cyborg species. What impact could a new species of improved humans have on the human brain itself, created and perfected over millions of years? We went from being a nomadic species of hunter-gatherer to sedentary dependent on technological devices. What consequences do the new habits bring to our brain? We are only aware of a tiny part of 1% of the diversity of molecules and waves of energy that circulate around us and in us. But we have one factor in our favor: we are true time machines. Is the human brain a decoder of reality or a master of artifice? What is the place of human consciousness in the Universe? The one that remains the greatest mystery of the human brain is still far from being decoded. Despite all the attempts of science, there is always a point where the miracle happens.

50 min