Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
The use of fMRI scans has revolutionised the field of neuroscience, allowing researchers previously hidden glimpses into human neural activity. However, as Thalia Wheatley, the Lincoln Filene Professor in Human Relations at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, argues in this clip from the interview series Closer to Truth, fMRI research has thus far largely been limited to situations that don’t resemble real life – people laying in scanners while being flashed images of their loved ones, for instance. Working within the emerging field of social neuroscience, Wheatley believes the next step for researchers like herself is to create experiments that more closely resemble genuine social interaction. Offering one fascinating example of the kind of next-generation fMRI research that she and her colleagues are pursuing, she describes an experiment in which neural activity was found to be similar in subjects considering the concepts ‘close proximity’ and ‘close relationships’. This indicates something rather surprising about the brain – that it repurposes primitive circuitry to help us grasp abstract concepts, behave socially and navigate our complex modern worlds.
Video by Closer to Truth
video
Ageing and death
We’re not the only animals that appear to grieve. What are the implications?
6 minutes
video
Love and friendship
For two brothers who rely on one another, love is a daily act of devotion
11 minutes
video
Evolution
How – and how not – to think about the role randomness plays in evolution
60 minutes
video
Meaning and the good life
A Japanese religious community makes an unlikely home in the mountains of Colorado
9 minutes
video
Sex and sexuality
From secret crushes to self-acceptance – a joyful chronicle of ‘old lesbian’ stories
29 minutes
video
Education
Scenes from a school year paint a refreshingly nuanced portrait of rural America
25 minutes
video
Physics
The rhythms of a star system inspire a pianist’s transfixing performance
5 minutes
video
Art
Watch as Japan’s surplus trees are transformed into forest-tinted crayons
4 minutes
video
Pleasure and pain
The volunteer musicians who perform in the aftermath of violence and tragedy
12 minutes