All In The Mind

What humans say to each other is perplexing at the best of times. But what if all you have is sight, no sound? Deaf people 'see' language through signing and lip-reading -- with surprising brain scan results. Forensic linguists often only have sound, no sight -- working with grisly sound recordings from murder scenes and covert criminal deals, to sleuth for suspects. Tune in to untangle some tricky talk.

The oedipus Complex - Dr Sigmund Freud's unusual theory that children desire their parent of opposite sex, and want harm to come to the other - has provoked much controversy. Head back to 1904, and it was a little Viennese boy's phobia of horses who became the unlikely evidence for Freud's thinking. A curious tale of castration anxiety, penis envy and the plight of poor Little Hans. NB: The All in the Mind podcast edition is a different program from the broadcast edition this week for copyright reasons. And, the streaming audio is on the BBC's website here.

Extreme cases of brain damage litter the history of neuroscience. Phineas Gage is perhaps the most famous. A railway worker in 19th-century Vermont, he managed to survive a catastrophic accident—the penetration of a metre-long iron rod through his head. What happened to Gage has become the stuff of legend, and fundamentally changed him and the way we think about the brain. NB: The All in the Mind podcast edition is a different program from the broadcast edition this week for copyright reasons. And, the streaming audio is on the BBC's website here.

In 1800, a young boy emerged from the woods of the Aveyron District in France, naked and wild. He became a scientific enigma to influential psychologist Dr Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard, and redefined the nature vs. nurture debate. His legacy lives on today, especially in the Montessori approach to learning. NB: The All in the Mind podcast edition is a different program from the broadcast edition this week for copyright reasons. And, the streaming audio is on the BBC's website here.

When a young woman, Kitty Genovese was brutally killed in a prolonged attack in New York in 1964, not one of 38 witnesses called for help until too late. The case led to the naming of the phenomenon known as the Bystander Effect. The first of four compelling programs on influential cases in the history of psychology. NB: The All in the Mind podcast edition is a different program from the broadcast edition this week for copyright reasons. And, the streaming audio is on the BBC's website here.

Many people hear voices inside their head -- some are diagnosed with schizophrenia, others live privately with the experience. International leaders in the Hearing Voices Network gather in Australia this week, controversially challenging the belief that voices are a pathological symptom without psychological meaning. They argue people can find it therapeutic to 'dialogue' with the voices. Meet three clinicians pushing the boundaries.

We live in a world mediated by flickering screens. But do 'people of the screen' think fundamentally differently to 'people of the book'? What will the brain look like in generations to come? Eminent neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield paints an apocalyptic picture of an identity lost, and cognition fundamentally compromised, forever stuck in the sensory chaos of early childhood.

We can't survive without them -- and we've long underestimated their prowess. Controversially, bacteria could even have cognitive talents that rival our own. Predatory behaviour, cooperation, memory -- Jules Verne eat your heart out -- Natasha Mitchell takes you on a strange adventure into the secret world of microbial mentality.

Dementia can produce challenging and erratic behaviours. The disease itself is one cause, but so is the world outside. Which psychosocial interventions really make a difference? And, a tour through an orthodox nursing home for the most extreme cases -- there's a bus stop with no bus, a car that won't go -- and it really works.

Dementia can trigger behaviours that are deeply depressing to loved ones. Aggression, agitation and even delusions and hallucinations. Antipsychotic medications are commonly prescribed. But they are now known to increase risk of mortality and stroke, with concerns that their use is excessive in under-resourced aged care settings. Management tool or good medical practice? Natasha Mitchell probes.