How Computers Affect Our Movements

Choosing a user name starting with a letter appearing earlier in the alphabet is just one scientifically vetted way to increase the odds of turning an online encounter into a first date. Christopher Intagliata reports 

High-calorie and exceedingly pleasurable foods appear to change rat brain rewards circuitry, causing the rodents to continue to seek such fare. Erika Beras reports 

Parkinson’s patients derived more benefits from a salt solution they were told was an expensive drug than from the same solution when it was described as being cheap medication. Karen Hopkin reports 

In Our Computers, Ourselves, a look at the ways technology affects us, and the main question is : Are computers changing human character? You'll hear from cyborgs, bullies, neuroscientists and police chiefs about whether our closeness with computers is changing us as a species. L ... Show More

We've been building computers to think like us for years, but our ability to replicate human senses has been impossible. Until now. Evolutionary biologist and broadcaster Professor Ben Garrod, is off to meet some of the sensory innovators and technological pioneers who are develo ... Show More

Whether it's gossiping over a drink, teaching our children, or politicians debating we use words to communicate with each other and share ideas. It’s what makes us human. But what if we can’t? Could it be possible to broadcast our thoughts directly from our brains without the nee ... Show More

Can reading the mind allow us to use thought control to move artificial limbs? Neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis, is one of the world's leading researchers into using the mind to control machines. One of his aims is to build a suit that a quadriplegic person can wear and control so ... Show More

It may seem like science fiction, but over the past decade scientists have been using stem cells to grow so-called “mini brains.” Researchers prefer the term brain organoids, a collection of human cells in a petri dish that mimic the structure and cell types of our own brains. Th ... Show More

How do brains and computers differ when it comes to memory storage? And what clues can we get from the ageing brain? 

Are insects the key to brain-inspired computing? Neuroscientist Frances S. Chance thinks so. In this buzzy talk, she shares examples of the incredible capabilities of insects -- like the dragonfly's deadly accurate hunting skills and the African dung beetle's superstrength -- and ... Show More

The idea of a machine that can read your thoughts sounds more like science fiction than actual science. But in recent years, it’s come closer to reality. Kenneth Norman, PhD, of Princeton University, talks about how scientists decode thoughts from patterns of brain activity, what ... Show More

In this episode, we talk with Jeff Hawkins—an entrepreneur and scientist, known for inventing some of the earliest handheld computers, the Palm and the Treo, who then turned his career to neuroscience and founded the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience in 2002 and Numenta ... Show More

Apart of Me is a computer game that has been designed to help young people process grief. It’s part of a movement that’s bringing together psychology and gaming. Whilst many parents worry about the distraction of games consoles and smart phones, some psychologists believe they ca ... Show More