In my Body and Cognition class in 2009, I asked students to send in links to things they found on the web that they felt were relevant to cognitive science. Here's what they came up with:
Cartoons
Pinky and the brain
Song in which Pinky and the brain describe the parts of the brain.
Visualizations
How the Body Works: The Regions of the Brain
Narrated animation: "The brain has three functional and anatomical parts…"
Neurotransmitter Synapse 3D animation
3D computer graphics animation of an action potential traveling down an axon
Hybrid Medical Animation
Simple 3D computer animation of a DNA molecule
Action potential animation
3D animation of cells and action potential
School Projects
Brain Tumors
A school student creates a narrated video with cartoon figures, describing medical facts around brain tumors.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
A school student creates a talking-head account of Piaget's stages of Cognitive Development.
The Right Brain vs. Left Brain
An optical illusion that tells you which side of the brain you use more.
Metaphorical / Art
Sensory Neurons
A metaphorical animation that uses stop-motion to illustrate the moment between touch and feel.
Sounds of Complexity
Audiovisual performance where crude sounds of the brain are monitored then transformed into frequencies.
Sounds of Complexity 2009
Continuation of above. Material is processed digitally in real-time, frequencies are transformed into Cartesian space to form visual trajectories on screens that react dynamically.
Health Education
What causes Epilepsy? (Epilepsy #5)
A health education video on the causes and effects of epilepsy.
Promotion/Advertising
Honda Develops Brain Machine Interface
Promo piece by Honda: Using the brain to remote-control things by thought alone. Technology showcase of current state of the art.
Sex, drugs and Rock'n'Roll center in the brain
Promo piece by Philips about how rock and roll music stimulates the reward center of the brain - the same way that sex and drugs do.
The Many Faces of Toni Collette in “Tara”
An Associated Press introduction to "United States of Tara", Showtime series from Steven Spielberg and Diablo Codya, featuring an interview with the show's star, Toni Collette.
Popular Science
Human Body: Pushing The Limits
Discovery: Too often we take our bodys for granted, but under presser our bodies can show how extraordinary they are". Uses 3D to illustrate full of hyperbole "our brain can slow down time and unleash immense power."
Super Brain Yoga
Channel 2 news feature about a form of exercise that is claimed to "pump up" neural activity in the brain and turn people into Grade A students.
Your Brains on Sex
When we have an orgasm, the limbic system releases the highest legal of dopamine in the brain - the same chemical released by Heroin.
Brain Controls Pain
Short video about how doctors are teaching patients how to manage pain through brain control.
Making Brain Cells
Science feature by ScienCentral on genetically modified mice, and the similarities between skin and brain stem cells. Claims that that the brain stem cells and hair follicle stem cells can both form into neurons. Could have long-term medical implications.
Crush the myth about Hypnosis, find out the truth today
A Mythbusters test about whether pypnosis helps three subjects remember details of a staged scene. Conclusion: they do have enhanced recall.
Remember Name hypnotically with Wendi
Self-help video in which Wendi tries to use hypnosis techniques to help people remember. Claims "things are stored in specific places in the brain."
Optical Illusions Show How we See
A TED presentation by Beau Lotto where he shows several optical illusions to illustrate that we don't see "reality" but a filtered version of it.
Feature Films
Ghost in the Shell (philosophical scenes)
Three philosophical scenes from the feature animation "Ghost in the Shell". The main character's memories are shown to be faked - raises questions of identity and subjectivity.
Waking Life Clip: Ants
A segment of the film waking life. "I don't want to be an ant" - female character asks male character for a more human connection.
The Cruise
A clip from the film The Cruise. Timothy Levitch a NY bus tour guide singing. "This is the first real day of their lives" - Timothy talks about cruising manifestations and connecting with tourists.
Mindgame Clip: God
A clip from the film Mindgame, in which the main character dies and meets God.
Documentaries
Music and the Brain
A clip from a lecture at the library of congress by Daniel Levitin. He presents an argument that music came before language.
Science Bulletins: Language and the Brain
An American Museum of Natural History mini documentary on speech and language in the brain.
Cognitive Psychology: The Brain
A ten minute clip from a longer KPBS documentary on learning and brain plasticity. "The brain is capable of rapidly revising..."
Dissociative Identity Disorder
A day-in-the-life style documentary about a man with dissociative identity order.
Kim Peek – The Real Rain Man
A documentary about Kim Peek, the savant who inspired the Rain Man. "He's become a living Google." Talks about his emotional life, his relationship with his father, and his cognitive abilities.
Savant Drawings
Documentary about Stephen Wiltshire, a savant who has perfect visual recall. He creates a near-perfect drawing of Rome after only seeing it from a Helicopter.
How to Improve Your Memory -2
Part of a British documentary about change blindness, memory and attentiveness.
US Language Attitudes
A documentary by Dennis Preston's on what people believe are "correct" and "bad" accents in American English.
East of Krakatoa - John Kang
Clip from the documentary Ring of Fire: East of Krakatoa. Appears to show John Chang, a meditation expert, creating fire only with his hand.
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