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The Secret Life of the Brain

The Secret Life of the Brain is a PBS documentary series directed by David Grubin, revealing the fascinating processes involved in brain development across a lifetime. The series consists of five episodes, each of which focuses on a specific aspect of the brain and its resulting behavior during that developmental stage - gestation, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Through a mix of personal histories, expert commentary and cutting-edge animation, the series tells startling truths about the brain.

Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5

Episode 1 - The Baby's Brain: Wider Than the Sky
A baby's brain is a mystery whose secrets scientists are just beginning to unravel. The mystery begins in the womb - only four weeks into gestation the first brain cells, the neurons, are already forming at an astonishing rate: 250,000 every minute.

Episode 2 - The Child's Brain: Syllable from Sound
A child's brain is a magnificent engine for learning. A child learns to crawl, then walk, run and explore. A child learns to reason, to pay attention, to remember, but nowhere is learning more dramatic than in the way a child learns language.

Episode 3 - The Teenage Brain: A World of Their Own
When examining the adolescent brain we find mystery, complexity, frustration, and inspiration. As the brain begins teeming with hormones, the prefrontal cortex, the center of reasoning and impulse control, is still a work in progress.

Episode 4 - The Adult Brain: To Think by Feeling
The adult brain is the apotheosis of the human intellect, but what of emotion? Emotion is now considered integral to our over-all mental health. In mapping our emotions, scientists have found that our emotional brain overlays our thinking brain: The two exist forever intertwined.

Episode 5 - The Aging Brain: Through Many Lives
The latest discoveries in neuroscience present a new view of how the brain ages. Overturning decades of dogma, scientists recently discovered that even into our seventies, our brains continue producing new neurons.