I know many who are also subscribed to PSYCHTEACHER will have seen this. But so that no one misses it, here it is again. I expect it will be shown tonight at 9:00 pm in most places for those within reach of a (United States) PBS station. The scheduling can be checked at http://www.pbs.org/whatson/states/VT.html
Looks like a must-see for those with an interest in the brain (and who isn't?). -Stephen The Secret Life of the Brain begins Tuesday, January 22 on WFYI TV 20. THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN reveals the fascinating processes involved in brain development across a lifetime. The five-part series informs viewers of exciting new discoveries in the brain sciences, introduces the foremost researchers in the field, and utilizes dynamic visual imagery and compelling human stories to help a general audience understand otherwise difficult scientific concepts. For program information, visit www.wfyi.org <http://www.wfyi.org/> . The Baby's Brain: Wider Than the Sky Tuesday, January 22 at 9:00 p.m. The brain changes by strengthening neural connections in response to stimulation and pruning connections due to deprivation. It is a remarkably plastic structure that can adapt to compensate for interference in normal development, but only so far. Developmental psychologist Heidelise Als, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, is conducting an experiment with premature babies, caring for them in an environment that mimics the conditions of the womb. Will these babies develop differently than other preemies treated in the standard way? Preliminary results show that preemies in Als' program have caught up with or surpassed their full-term peers, but will these results hold over time and in other programs replicating her techniques? The Child's Brain: Syllable From Sound Tuesday, January 22 at 10:00 p.m. In childhood, we grow and learn more rapidly than at any other time in life, but nowhere is learning more dramatic than in the way a child learns language. Most children learn to speak and read easily, but some have trouble. Many are unable to master the skills due to learning disorders, one of which is dyslexia. How do their brains differ from others? Where does the problem lie and how can it be overcome? Is it really only one problem? Learning disabilities can also be nonverbal. Up until about eleven months of age, a baby can hear the sounds of all languages. Gradually, hearing becomes more selective and perception is limited mostly to the sounds of one's native language. In babies, the language function is handled by both the left and right hemispheres, but as children mature language becomes more focused in the left hemisphere. The Teenage Brain: A World of Their Own Tuesday, January 29, 9:00 p.m. Offers potential comfort to parents who believe teenagers are different from the rest of humanity by demonstrating that it's literally true. During puberty the brain is a work in progress, teeming with hormones, while the areas that direct reasoning and impulse control are still in development. Adolescence is also a period during which people are especially susceptible to schizophrenia and addiction, two areas currently under intensive study and benefiting from increased understanding of brain function. The Adult Brain: To Think By Feeling Tuesday, February 5, 9:00 p.m. The brain is the seat of both intellect and emotion, and this hour chronicles the critical balance between these processes and explores what happens when the balance is lost. Scientists draw insight from the stories of a stroke victim and a sufferer of post-traumatic stress disorder, and break new ground in the struggle to understand and treat depression. The Aging Brain: Through Many Lives Tuesday, February 12, 9:00 p.m. For years, science has suggested that we lose vast numbers of brain cells as we grow older; now it turns out that this is not true - in fact, healthy brains continue to produce new neurons well into the seventies. Drawing on the most recent neuroscience discoveries, this hour presents a new view of how the brain ages, focusing in part on the remarkable strides being made in understanding stroke, Alzheimer's Disease, and Parkinson's Disease. The overall prognosis is an optimistic one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at: http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
