We're all living in the age of Google. What are search engines and technology doing to our memory?
Happy New Year! Here is one of the amazing powers of exercise.
Could a slight rise in narcissism from increased use of social media actually make us better, more self-aware people?
Want to win gold? It helps to train your brain, not just your body. Studies with athletes show that using imagery techniques to train your brain can improve your physical performance.
Want to beat jet lag fast? There's an app for that. I chat with researcher & app developer Olivia Walch from University of Michigan.
Knitting is making a comeback and the benefits might just surprise you.
Why we forget things and how there's a silver lining. What was I talking about?
Do you feel really disorientated when you wake up? 1 in 7 people suffer from 'Sleep Drunkenness'.
If you were sleep deprived, could you just fake that you got more sleep the night before? Science has some interesting answers.
A brief tale on the possibilities of brain-to-brain communication, with a few cats.
Sometimes bad things happen to good feedback.
Persuasive and personalised messages are all around us.
The surprising effects behind our accents.
How attention and focus affects creative thinking.
Joy and happiness makes us genuinely smile, but can forcing a smile make us genuinely happy? Say cheese!
Is a MIND-BLOWING moment rewarding and addictive?
Do you have food nostalgia? Why are our memories of food are so vivid (and delicious).
Can you see what I see? We all experience things subjectively, including how we perceive optical illusions.
Is there a limit to the number of relationships we can maintain? And could that be changing with our ever-expanding online social networks?
Does the beat always beat you? Why some people can't hear music.
'Twas the night before Christmas, and you still haven't gone shopping... so here are some scientific gift giving tips. Happy Holidays and thanks for watching in 2014!
We're known to mimic each other's facial expressions and posture, but they aren't the only things we can subconsciously "catch" from others.
A story about ethics, commenting on mental health, and why Dr Oz is still a doctor. It's interesting, I promise.
What's the key to happiness and life satisfaction? One study followed a group of people for more than 70 years to find out.
The scientific reasons you're into your bae.
Do you know brain facts from fiction?
A quick look at some awesome people behind discoveries in psychology, neuroscience and biology.
We love ourselves, and our names, more than we consciously realise. Research has found this implicit egotism has some pretty interesting effects.
The trillions of bacteria in your gut have more of a relationship with your brain than you may realise.
These cognitive biases affect how we make decisions–and it often happens subconsciously.
Are you easily fooled? Why we fall for April Fool's Pranks.
It's my 50th episode! I'm celebrating by answering your questions about disgust, boredom, salty tears and BrainCraft.
Some ideas about the brain that seem weird now–They also shaped modern neuroscience.
Would you pay to make things fair, or maximize your profit? Let me know below in the comments!
Sometimes things get a little weird in fMRI machines.
The curious case of a man who lost his memory, but could still learn things.
Can you see what I see? Let me know if you were tricked by these illusions!
Is more choice really better than less?
Put your observation skills to the test.
Do you trust your ears?
Can we define beauty?
You asked for an Inside Out episode, so here it is! Here's some science behind the message in the film. I tried to leave out any spoilers!
Can Mary learn anything in the Knowledge Argument?
Happy New Year! Thanks so much for your support in 2015 ^_^
The psychology behind self driving cars: What happens when people don’t interact with technology in the way that developers expect?
The Planning Fallacy Explained.
Original Title: Wiggle Your Big Toe
Thanks to YOU, PBS Digital Studios and a variety of other sponsors for their support over the past 5 years of BrainCraft. Let's keep this thing going, yeah?
“Overthinking” is often reported as being a bad habit and is frequently used interchangeably with rumination. But overthinking isn’t necessarily bad and rumination is just one type of overthinking.
This video dives into why we interrupt. Some reasons why are more straightforward: perhaps you blurt something out, perhaps people are jerks, but some new research tries to identify the bits of the brain that are responsible for you keeping time in a conversation. The research involves an obscure species of ultrasonic singing mice. Naturally.
Are you an introvert or an extravert? This video explores the nuances of introversion and some findings on how introverts can enjoy higher levels of wellbeing. Previous personality psychology research has found that extraverts are happier, on average, so a new line of research is digging into why.
Since I started working from home, I snack constantly while I work. When I have a difficult task, I often find myself standing in front of the pantry. Snacking isn’t always bad, but for me it means that I often don’t eat lunch or dinner, just snacks snacks snacks snacks. Many of my friends who work from home, or who have unlimited snacks at work, have expressed a similar sentiment. So, I started to wonder that there must be some underlying psychology here, and surely some tips about how I can stop. Now you should probably stop reading this and watch the video.
Body language analysis has long been a theme in popular books, traditional media and now, an increasing number of YouTube channels. While this is all pretty entertaining, it's not scientific: It’s really, really hard to study body language.
From time to time, we all need to stay motivated. A lack of motivation can be something that can affect us every day – whether at work or at home, where we always intend on going to the gym, but can't quite get that boost we need to get out the door. So, here are some tips on how to find your intrinsic motivation. If you have any other tips, please leave them in the comments!
In this episode, I went to visit Hank Green to test his self-awareness – how much someone’s views of themself are in touch with what they’re actually like. It’s also called self-knowledge or private self-consciousness.
Original Title: This One Thing Ruins Your Decisions What's the one thing that can ruin your decision making abilities? It's sunk cost bias, where we are more likely to choose something we’ve invested time or money in, even if it’s not the best decision for our future wealth or happiness. I'm trying to improve my decision making, and I hope these psychology tips will equip you to make better decisions in your life.
Do something kind for others. It's good for *you*.
Earlier this year, people messaged me saying they were skeptical of diversity programs (particularly in STEM). So, we dive into the psychology and economics research to see what the impact of diverse teams is on innovation and financial performance. And, it turns out having more perspectives, different experience and an inclusive environment is good for business.
Gratitude is a hot topic in popular psychology – but is it always a good thing? In this episode we explore "insincere gratitude" where your thanks could be doing more harm than good.
This year I released an Everyday Psychology mini-series that offered brain tips and insights based on research. Some of you commented that they weren't relevant to those with general anxiety, social anxiety depression or on the autism spectrum, so I called up my friend Ali Mattu to see what these tips would look like for a larger population. And, he reviews my brain tips. Thanks to Ali for his time and YOU for the episode suggestion.
How to actually form habits that stick?
Let's take a walk, shall we? This is what's been on my mind lately: eco anxiety and what's happening in Australia: Massive bushfires and now, record flooding and a tropical cyclone.
It's been a tough week. I hope this video helps.
Why was March the longest year ever? Our perception of time is subjective – and neuroscience and psychology experiments can give us some hints about the role your emotions and memory play in the COVID-19 time warp. Please stay safe, STAY HOME and take care of your mental health, too.
How can we convince others to wear a mask? Here are six tips I need you to share with... your community. You're a science communicator now. If you think about wearing a mask like other behaviours and actions related to our health – wearing seatbelts, condoms, sunscreen and more – we can look at things that did (and didn't work) in public health campaigns in the past. I hope you like my PSA.
"Type A" Personality Was Invented by the Tobacco Industry - Here's How.
The pursuit of happiness is futile. And psychology suggests that identifying ways you are content is a better way to achieve well-being.
A growth mindset can not only help you learn and grow, it can help you manage stress.
How does' leaders bad behaviour affect how we act?
This is my kind-of Social Dilemma Review, and I say ‘kind-of’ because I found there wasn’t that much to review in the Netflix documentary itself. Many of the people interviewed made valid points, though the documentary offered little in the way of solutions and in my opinion, the ending was alarmist. When I made Attention Wars we wanted it to be information-dense, so this is what I’m adding to the discussion – lots of examples and information of what I consider to me the more disturbing side of social media and psychology.
Seven years ago, I uploaded my first YouTube video to BrainCraft. I had it fact-checked, and sat down to watch it for the first time since 2013.
I've never been great at short term planning. This year, I started using a tiered planning system and found it help reduce my anxiety. Here's some food for thought as we head into the new year: Is there a way you can manage your time better? The planning software I'm using is called Actions by Moleskine Studio, it's a paid service and I signed up because I like the colours and simplicity. Out of the free options, I like Asana the best. It has a simple to-do list feature, and it's also pretty customisable and good for working in teams.
I visited the History of Pharmacy Museum to learn about old science, trust, and what it all has to do with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Many claim that Times New Roman is the most readable or accessible font – but is this really true? We dive into font research to explore the accessibility of Arial, Comic Sans, and fonts like Open Dyslexic. Is there one that stands out from the rest? Or is the world of typefaces as subjective as our opinions about design?
Many people think procrastination is the opposite of productivity. So trying to fix procrastination with productivity hacks like time management apps or optimizing your workflow makes sense, right? But that’s the tricky thing about procrastination: it’s a mental phenomenon, so we need those psychological tricks. Making changes to the way we *think* rather than the way we work, is key.
Never stop asking questions, and remember that it’s never too late to do something new.
I visited a statue of myself and 120 other STEM Ambassadors in Texas! Thank you to the If/Then Initiative for this amazing opportunity.
How many exclamation points is too many?! Should you include emojis in emails ????????♀️ Why do people send such terrible emails, or is there more to it? Here Vanessa breaks down the psychology of online communication – emails, text messages and more – to unpack how knowledge bias, negativity bias and generation punctuation lead to miscommunication. Armed with new knowledge about tone and perception, you can reemerge into the world to communicate more clearly... we hope...
300 days ago, I gave up my apartment began an experiment to see how working from anywhere would impact my mood, motivation and creativity. This is what I learned.
When I discovered the Amazon Halo fitness tracker has a ‘Tone of Voice Analysis' feature, I had to investigate. Do you think tone analysis can be useful, and should we even be doing it?
In this video, we explore the psychology of inspiration: where does it come from in the brain, and how can we be more inspired (particularly when we are feeling unmotivated to do anything)?
We interact with traffic and road signs constantly, though you probably haven't spent much time thinking about them. This is may be because they often guide our behaviour below our conscious awareness. Signs are SUPER important, but traffic signs aren't designed in an inclusive way – those with dyslexia and elderly people take longer to process certain types of signs. So which signs are the worst, most confusing or infuriating? How can traffic sign design be better? At this point, you should really stop reading this description and just watch the video.
I spoke with the composer Max Richter about the 8½ hour piece of music SLEEP, and the larger SLEEP project. Thanks to Universal Music for making this possible (and making this scientist feel particularly cool).
The Vagus Nerve controls various bodily functions, such as digestion, heart rate, and mood regulation. Recently there's been a surge in alternative therapies that claim to stimulate the Vagus Nerve, including icing, breathing exercises and meditation. In this video, I test the most popular TikTok trend, icing, based on the mammalian dive reflex. We explore the science behind VNS, the latest therapies, and what personalised medicine could look like in the future.
Self esteem is your evaluation of your worth, value, or importance. It's a basic feature of good mental health. But many of us have low self-esteem, and when your self-esteem suffers, it can lead to self-criticism, sadness, anxiety, shame and even depression. So I tried five research-backed ways to improve self-esteem – interventions that have had a positive impact in clinical trials.
This is an expert's guide to doing nothing.
I spent a year learning about a new area of psychology to try and change minds.| But am I the asshole?
