Brain Games Episode Rating Graph

Whether you're trying to get to the head of the class, earn the big promotion, or just find a parking spot—every day, you're competing. With yourself... and with others. So what is it about the human brain that makes you want to win—sometimes at all costs? In this episode we'll explore your brain and competition through a series of competitions! Each viewer will be assigned a team and play along as our Red and Blue teams duke it out in a head to head battle to determine the winner of “The Brain Games.” Along the way you'll learn what drives you to compete, why some people may be born more competitive, and how a little healthy rivalry can help you climb the ladder of success.

Everyone thinks they’re unique and independent, but how much of your behavior is based on how much your brain is copying from people around you? You’ll discover how you unconsciously adapt the way you behave, speak, and move according to who you’re talking to, who you’re trying to please, or who you’d like to be like in the future.

Seeing is believing, right? Not necessarily. It all depends on your perspective. In this episode of Brain Games, mind-bending illusions will show you the ways in which your visual perceptions can be surprisingly off.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Whether it's full blown road rage or just the ever-present frustration at life's little inconveniences, we all feel a little mad sometimes. But what if getting angry had less to do with what's going on outside, and more to do with what's going on inside your brain? In this episode we'll explore why your brain gets angry and what you can do about it. Through a series of games and experiments, we'll prove to you that anger isn't always a bad thing, and how having a short fuse might not be the worst trait to have. Also you'll learn how to deal better with the anger of other people, and your own.

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.

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 ...

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.

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.

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.

Ever had the strange sensation of just knowing something without being able to say how you know it? Or been bothered by something without knowing why? That tiny feeling is the key to unlocking one of your brain’s most powerful abilities: intuition. In this episode of Brain Games, we'll put your brain to the ultimate test with a series of interactive games and fascinating experiments that reveal a useful piece of advice: you should stop thinking with your head and listen to your gut.

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.

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.

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.

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 of Brain Games, we put your problem-solving skills to the test as we lead you through a labyrinth of logic games. Every day, you use logic to get things done, from dressing for the weather, choosing the best route to work, to deciding what to eat for dinner. Through a series of interactive games and experiments, you'll learn about the power and the limitations of your logical abilities. Studies have found that logic is something you develop and hone with practice, so play along as we present puzzles and illusions that will help strengthen your brain.

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.