All In The Mind

Cotard's syndrome is the belief that you have died, and for sufferers it is a terrifying state. Delusions can take many forms, from widespread paranoia to a specific and singular delusion - you might think an impostor has replaced your spouse. These misbeliefs are commonly associated with schizophrenia, but they can also occur in people with brain injuries, Huntington's and Parkinson's disease and dementia. The Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science is seeking to explain delusions by developing a model of how we all come to accept or reject beliefs. We see how this research is progressing.

One of the common first indicators of autism is the inability of the 18-month-old child to point with their index finger. Autism shapes behaviour and severely limits a person's ability to form relationships and communicate. But the complex causes of this disorder are obscure. We look at some of the research seeking answers, and a mother with a 3-year-old autistic son portrays life with this mystery.

The World Health Organisation estimates that by the year 2020 depression will be the world's second most prevalent illness. The whirlwind of changes experienced by teenagers make them particularly vulnerable to this. Right around Australia high schools are looking at how to teach resilience to adolescents, and thus the skills that enable kids to spring back from adversity. And what does new neurobiological research tell us about the impact of trauma on the developing brain?

For many people becoming a parent is at the very heart of the meaning of life.

Each year Australians spend millions of dollars striving for personal perfection. There is a multi-billion-dollar industry to tell us how to do anything from remove excess fat on our bodies to bulk-up the mediocrity of our pay packets. The language of self help has seeped into almost every corner of our lives, with TV programs like Dr Phil giving daily advice for self improvement. Micki McGee - a sociologist from New York University - puts this personal development phenomenon under the microscope, and self-help author Stephanie Dowrick defends the usefulness of the genre.

The impact of memory loss can be utterly profound. We depend on our capacity to remember at every turn - from shopping lists to the names of our children. Brain injury can put a devastating spanner in the works. What memories can be recovered, what must be relearned, and what might be compensated for if you suffer the trauma of brain damage? In Part 3 of this BBC series on the science of memory, some new technologies to aid those with fractured memory. And, the phenomenon of the super-memory - how do memory whizzes do it?

Losing grip on your memory is terrifying. The brutal memories that plague those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can revive the visceral emotions of traumas past. In part 2 of this series on the science of memory, BBC presenter Pam Rutherford explores why memory goes haywire during both PTSD and depression, and the important role emotions play in the machinations of your mind's memory vault.

Do you remember your first kiss? The smell of your grandmother's perfume? How to do calculus? From birth through to death our brains will file away impressive amounts of information - names, faces, sounds, smells, and events, and the emotions that we bundle up with all of these. We're ever reliant on our ability to plunder our mind's memory vault at a moment's notice. But what are the neurological processes that give birth to a memory? The first in a series of 3 programs exploring memory, from the BBC World Service.

The 21st century has been coined the Century of the Brain. But as the exciting tools of neuroscience probe deeper – compelling ethical and philosophical questions over the privacy of our thoughts, identity and selfhood are coming to the fore. What if a brain scan revealed more about you than you really want to know? How might neuroscience be used in the courts? What can we confidently read from the bright lights of a brain image? How should this information be used beyond the research lab? Two of the world's leading thinkers in the emerging field of 'neuroethics' explore these and other timely questions.

None of us are getting any younger. As our bodies show signs of wear, so do our brains. We get forgetful, are confronted by new ideas and perplexed by new technologies. The world appears to be moving way too fast, as we sink into memories of the good ol' days. Eminent neuropsychologist and author Elkhonon Goldberg argues we have no excuse. His message - make your brain sweat if you want to enjoy your mental life to its fullest. And his suggestion is that the two hemispheres of our brain age differently as we wise up. Gretchen Miller reports.