All In The Mind

Dr Judy Willis applies new knowledge in neuroscience to develop better learning strategies for children.

Barbara Arrowsmith-Young tells the inspiring story of how she overcame her severe learning difficulties with specific brain exercises. We also hear the moving accounts of two Australians who’ve taken a leaf out of her book.

Are we getting smarter? We know our IQ scores have been steadily rising since we began measuring intelligence, but that’s not the full story. Moral philosopher James Flynn joins us to tackle the controversial questions of IQ in relation to race, gender and class. 

Leonard Mlodinow is a theoretical physicist who’s turned his mind to the unconscious. Not the unconscious mind of Freudian fame which was examined through psychoanalysis in the 19th century – but a new science of the unconscious made possible by technologies which reveal the physiology of our brains. We discuss the hidden forces that rule our behaviour. 

Do you privately shake with nerves or shyly blush when the attention is on you? Most people experience some form of shyness but others are so immobilised by the fear of being judged negatively that they can barely function. Social phobia is the third most common mental illness after depression and substance abuse. We hear about one woman's 20 year struggle with social anxiety and some recent scien...

Keeping up with phone calls, sms messages, Facebook updates, tweets ... sometimes it feels like technology rules our lives. Psychology of technology researcher Dr Larry Rosen warns that our technology is causing us to develop symptoms of disorders such as narcissistic personality disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. He points out the warning signs of what he calls 'i-disorders' and suggests...

Adolescence and young adulthood is a time of life dominated by highs and lows – it’s part of normal development, but it’s also the time when people are at greatest risk of developing mental illness. We hear about some new approaches to assisting young people when they are at the most vulnerable. 

In 1961 Stanley Milgram conducted a controversial series of experiments which were said to show that we're all capable of evil in certain circumstances. Many of the participants are still traumatised. This is a panel discussion about the lessons and ethics of these experiments..

We feel we should be able to recall all sorts of things at will—but how often do our individual memories fail us? As part of a study on social memory, a group of cognitive psychologists and philosophers heard the shared histories of long term married couples to investigate how they combine their memories. The strategies they use could help people with dementia.

Is there anything different about the brains of extraordinary creative geniuses like Michelangelo, Coleridge or Mozart? World renowned psychiatrist and doctor of English Renaissance Literature Dr Nancy Andreasen unravels the 'creative brain' and explores how we can foster creativity in ourselves and throughout our society.

For centuries scientists have grappled with the concept of memory—what is it, how does it work and can we really rely on it? US historian Alison Winter traces the history of the way we have conceptualised memory—from the use of truth serums and hypnotism to the science of forgetting. She describes the way memory has been compared to filing cabinets, flashbulbs and motion pictures over the past cen...

Pioneering neuroscientist Richard Davidson deepens our understanding of the mind-body connection. He’s identified six unique emotional styles and explains the brain chemistry underlying them. He explains that there are simple strategies and interventions which we can use to change our emotional styles. He believes one effective example is through mindfulness meditation, after studying the brain sc...

According to a large study on self injury conducted in 2008 by the University of Queensland, 220,000 Australians injured themselves deliberately, without meaning to suicide, in the month prior to the survey. For some people, hurting themselves is a way of coping with overwhelming psychological pain. In this program we hear about what mental processes go on behind this behaviour and we hear from a...

Are you a sensitive flower -- like a vulnerable orchid, or more like a hardy dandelion? We explore the intriguing orchid–dandelion hypothesis which suggests that the genes that underlie our greatest weakness may also be the basis for our most positive traits, given the right environment.

Natasha Mitchell has interviewed many of the world’s most celebrated thinkers on the mind over the past decade, and one the most creative is acclaimed neuroscientist and polymath of the brain Professor V.S Ramachandran. Next week, All in the Mind swaps shows and slots for a season of an exciting new show The Body Sphere hosted by Amanda Smith. In April, All in the Mind returns for a season, presen...

Psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela was on South Africa's historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chairing many of its tortuous public hearings about atrocities committed in the apartheid era. In an unprecedented dialogue she met with one of apartheid's most abhorrent killers, in jail, to explore forgiveness, psychological redemption and the symbolic language of trauma.

All in the Mind is turning 10, and over the decade we've taken you across the globe to discover how the mind and its discontents are profoundly shaped by culture. A chance to meet again the incredible women of The Banyan in India - with stories of triumph amongst the deepest despair.

Celebrate All in the Mind's tenth birthday! Over the decade the show has tracked some of the provocative technological developments and ethical debates about our state of mind. From stem cell therapy to the spectre of animal-human chimeras or cyborgian selves...we love to get heady and technical!

As All in the Mind turns 10, we're digging into the archives to get personal. It's a celebration of the neuro-narrative. Meet Electroboy, poet Sandy Jeffs...encounter a brain surgery and be moved by stories of life, loss and love.

All in the Mind started with Zombies back in 2002...not of the Day of the Living Dead kind, but the philosophical variety! Celebrate All in the Mind's 10th birthday with us. This week, Natasha revisits the great conundrum of human consciousness with leading thinkers - it's a problem that continues to stump the brightest minds.

It's 10 years since Natasha Mitchell started All in the Mind and we're digging into the archives for you! This week, getting sexy in true adolescent spirit - the perplexing case of the female orgasm, getting your kicks in a brain scanner, and is the sex between your ears more important than the sex between your legs!?

Bah! All that talk about brain cells and grey matter!  Let’s focus on where the real interesting action is inside your head: the connections between your brain cells—synapses. From the ancient past to the frenzied future—it's all about making connections.

In the 50 years before he emigrated to escape the Nazis, Sigmund Freud, his wife Martha and six children lived and worked in the house at Berggasse 19 in Vienna. His most famous works were penned there, his most famous patients bared their 'souls' there. Join Natasha Mitchell for a personal tour through the archives of the Fin de Siecle mind.

Oxford-based, Australian bioethicist Julian Savulescu is a provocateur. He's argued the case for a 'new eugenics' and that we have a moral obligation to pursue human perfection. Now he thinks we should be using science and technology for moral enhancement itself. Could the future of humanity depend on it?

Loneliness has been with Emily White for as long as she can remember. Smart, savvy, popular - none of this has inoculated her against 'the ghost in her life'. Her memoir is an encounter with the emerging, powerful science of loneliness, and a taboo like few.