Brain Games

Hack into the ultimate supercomputer ' the human brain ' as Hollywood filmmakers use color, light, motion, depth and sound to create mind-bending sensory illusions. Is it possible to feel the sensation of accidentally cutting your finger ' just by watching TV? Much of what we experience may be a mere fabrication, as our brains fill in gaps and stitch together a complete picture of the world bit-by-bit, designed to overcome our eyes' blind spots. But what happens when your senses get crossed?

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.

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.

Join host Jason Silva in a series of interactive games and experiments that explores your brain's capacity for compassion, and questions the motives behind both your selfless and selfish acts. In this episode we'll tackle the age-old question of nature vs. nurture, and test whether altruistic inclinations are hardwired in our brain from birth. You'll discover if you're actually born naughty or nice, and explore the chances of finding a psychopath among your family or friends — or even in the mirror!

We all have things we say we can’t live without — coffee, smartphones, social media... But do we really need all those things, or on some deep level are we addicted to them? In this episode we’ll put you through a series of games and experiments designed to reveal how, like it or not, we’re all addicted to something, and why some addictions might be the best thing that ever happened to you. Learn what one of the most addictive sounds in the world is, why you can’t stop checking your phone, and why that awful pop song is still stuck in your head.

Would you believe language is the closest thing humans have to telepathy? Or that you speak volumes every day without uttering a single word? Play along as host Jason Silva — with help from biomedical-engineer Sri Sarma of Johns Hopkins University — leads you on a journey of discovery through the mystery of how you create meaning, and more. After we break down what to look for, viewers will be conversant in the hidden language of gestures, tells, and nonverbal signals. Through a series of addictive interactive games and unexpected experiments you’ll discover how language might be your brain’s most remarkable ability.

Whether it's choosing what to eat for breakfast, where to invest your money or just when to cross the street, nearly every choice you make involves some sort of calculated risk. This episode explores how your brain evaluates risk — you'll discover why we're all born risk-takers and how life is often a big game of chance. You'll also find out that while your brain is hardwired to analyze risk, it doesn’t always make the most logical decisions. But pay attention, and you'll learn how to assess risk like your life depends on it... because it does!

Girls and boys. Guys and gals. Ladies and Gentlemen. No matter how you say it, it all comes down to the same thing: Male and Female. In this episode the male brain and the female brain go head to head. We’re going to pit teams of men and women against each other in a series of games and experiments designed to mess with your mind and show you how the genders are not created equally... from how we talk, to how we listen, and especially how we think.

Do you have a lucky number? Do you cross the street to avoid black cats? Have you ever thought you knew what someone was about to say–and turned out to be right? This is a show about your brain and superstition. Superstition is a big part of our everyday lives, and the same power our brain has to learn language, find meaning in chaos, and hit home runs makes us believe things that have no basis in reality. We’re going to mess with your mind as we put you through a series of games and experiments that will reveal how your brain may be hardwired to be superstitious. You'll find out if someone really can read your mind, and how you can do it too.

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.

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.

Actors Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard face off in a series of Battle of the Sexes games designed to illustrate the differences between female and male brains.

Actor Ted Danson learns how human brains distinguish fact from fiction in a series of games.

NFL football player Drew Brees puts his brain to the test with a series of mental challenges exploring how humans have hacked their brains; Keegan and Drew play a game called Draft Day, which shows how the brain must react quickly and be flexible.

Actors Anthony Anderson and Marsai Martin ("Black-ish) face off in a series of games with host 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.