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Mind Brain Machine
Neuroscientists are studying the "science of consciousness" to discover the networks where conscious thoughts and sensations originate. This program introduces Tony Grobmeier, who was born without a corpus callosum, the structure that connects the two interdependent halves of our brains: language and linear thinking on the left, emotion and visual perception on the right. Neuroscientists are trying to understand the ways this relatively rare congenital condition affects the brain. They've observed that people without a corpus callosum have brains wired in completely unique ways. When it comes to human nature, what does "normal" mean, anyway? This is just one of the provocative questions posed in this segment. Another segment takes viewers to the FlyLab at Caltech. Here, Michael Dickinson and his graduate students are researching the brain and its complex collection of neurons with help from Drosophila Melanogaster – a.k.a. the fruit fly. What they learn from this extraordinarily robust and dexterous biological flying machine might one day be used to build better robots and other machines, including safer airplanes. Though their brains are the size of a poppy seed with 300,000 times less gray matter than ours, flies squeeze a lot more performance out of each neuron than humans do. Always reverent of their subject matter, but with charm and humor to spare, the young researchers work with the lab's "Fly-o-rama" – a virtual reality environment where flies play for hours – and other devices, giving viewers a new respect for the humble fly and a new way of thinking about our brains. Moral, social and economic decisions all happen at the level of the individual neuron, the brain's most basic unit. This segment goes inside the human brain, revealing what is essentially a huge number-cruncher that assigns a numeric value to everything from a loaf of bread to our most deeply held values. Do the emotional parts of the brain do battle with areas that control reason? How do these conflicts result in feelings and decisions? To answer these questions, scientists are attempting to catch the brain in the act of decision making using an fMRI, a heavy-duty but non-evasive method of brain scanning that is revolutionizing our understanding of the science of decision making. The program illustrates conflicts and ethical dilemmas involved in decision making by proposing theoretical scenarios. One example uses a train racing toward a group of track workers to ask whether people would make the decision to sacrifice one life in order to save four others. The researchers aren't the only interesting characters in this program. This segment also features a fascinating cast of robots, including NASA veterans like the aging but able Mars Exploration Rover and youngsters like the tool-wielding A.T.H.L.E.T.E. (All Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer). Can things we're learning about the brain be applied to robots? Will it ever be possible to create a machine that can see, learn and make decisions? Some scientists predict robots will ultimately surpass humans in intelligence, leading to prickly ethical conundrums.
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CC - Closed Caption
HD - High Definition
16:9 - Anamorphic Widescreen
LTR - Letterbox
DVI - Descriptive Video Information for the visually impaired
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