Test Your Brain

Every second, countless sensory impressions flood in. If our brain didn't filter them and leave only the most important ones, we would literally collapse under the multitude of impressions. These filtering mechanisms are also exploited by illusionists when they amaze their audiences with often seemingly unbelievable tricks. How this works and what insights science has gathered to date about the functioning of the brain – these exciting questions are explored in the first episode of "Test Your Brain" by none other than master magician David C...

Color, light, movement, and depth perception—what we consider everyday sensory impressions, which we rarely give conscious thought to, are actually simplified constructs designed by our brain to organize and utilize the flood of incoming sensory impressions. These systems can be easily tricked: In episode 2 of "Test Your Brain," we go to a special effects studio, where state-of-the-art computer effects are used to create breathtaking visual and sound illusions for the latest Hollywood blockbusters. With the help of some of these special effects, even...

The final episode of "Test Your Brain" is dedicated to our memory. It's well known that for some people, it functions more like a sieve, while others can recall every detail of an encounter decades later. But why is this, and how can these differences be explained? "Test Your Brain" embarks on a search for clues with someone who, due to his professional background, is well-versed in the strengths and weaknesses of human memory: a New York City police detective. In his job, he's repeatedly confronted with contradictory...