Human Mind TV Programmes

Programme 1 - Get Smart

Wednesday 1 October 2003, 9pm, BBC One

The first programme in the series uncovers what happens in our minds when we learn, remember and have original ideas. It explores what we can do to improve our ability to learn and manipulate knowledge, and shows how eating fish oils can boost our brain power.

Professor Robert Winston looks at how memory can be improved and how we can learn physical tasks more easily. He discovers what happens when we have those eureka moments of original thought - and how to have more of them.

We meet the fire chief who tapped into his intuitive powers and saved the lives of his fire crew and follow a trainee midwife in the run-up to her exams. Will she be able to remember the huge amount of information she’ll need to know to pass? More importantly, can she apply it to a real childbirth?

Discover how fish oils could boost your brainpower, see how many words you can remember in our memory test and read the diary of a memory champion.