The brain with David Eagleman. 1, What is reality?.

Episode One - What is reality? Eagleman exhibits an optical illusion to members of the public, demonstrating how the mind perceive an image or object differently to its representation in reality. He explains how the brain converts electrochemical signals into experiences of the outside world. He then explores the function of sight. He visits Mike May, who lost his sight when he was young due to a chemical explosion, and underwent pioneering stem cell surgery to regain it. May recounts his initial experiences of his vision returning, during which time he suffered a lack of facial recognition and depth perception. Eagleman then visits Elissa Brewer, who is conducting an experiment at the University of California using specially engineered goggles to invert the wearer’s world view. Brewer conducts an experiment with Eagleman and another participant in a maze setting to explore how they decode inverted visual input. Eagleman conducts a test involving sprint athletes to demonstrate how the brain synchronises streams of sensory data arriving at different speeds in order to more coherently construct a reality. He then visits an isolation chamber known as ‘The Hole’ at Alcatraz Prison. Robert Cold Blue Luke, an ex-prisoner at Alcatraz, describes suffering hallucinations due to being deprived of new sensory information whilst incarcerated in solitary confinement. Eagleman describes the function of the thalamus and uses a hollow replica mask of Einstein's face to demonstrate the ‘internal model’. He then re-runs an eye-tracking experiment initially conducted by Russian Psychologist Alfred L. Yarbus in the 1960s. Eagleman explains electromagnetic radiation, the visible spectrum of light, and our interpretation of coloured wavelengths in the real world. One of Eagleman’s subjects suffering from Synaesthesia describes her experiences of interpreting words as colours. Eagleman visits Professor Elyn Saks, who recounts her experiences suffering schizophrenic episodes. He then visits professional wingsuit flier Jeb Corliss, who experienced time distortion during a major wingsuit crash. Eagleman conducts an experiment exploring how the interpretation of time passing during an event like this might differ from reality. He then links this to the role of the amygdala in constructing memories.