Topic
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Out-of-Body Experiences
In Light Sonata, Rupert, among his other outrageous sensations, floats over the piano. What in his brain would account for such a sensation? Some kind of insanity? Or something else? Listen to what hard neuroscience has to say.
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High-Functioning Schizophrenics
In Light Sonata, whether and how to treat schizophrenia comes up. Listen to what a real-life, high-functioning schizophrenic has to say.
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Vision in the Brain
Throughout Light Sonata, we dip into a surreal world of extraordinary visions. But as the story unfolds, we begin to wonder about how surreal even normal vision is. Watch what real neuroscience says about it.
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More Vision in the Brain
In Light Sonata, Charlie grapples with how intricately Rupert's visions are integrated into his hands to play the piano. Could such a connection be real? Watch what this neuroscientist discovered on the matter.
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Hearing in the brain
Rupert hears the world through exquisite ears and has aural as well as visual hallucinations. Here is a clip from a film I made about human hearing, Through a Portal to the Mind, where we float through the ear and up into the brain.
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More hearing from the inside
Another clip from Through a Portal to the Mind, this time showing the movement of the membranes and cells within the cochlea.
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“I’ve seen a thousand faces fade”
Baxter, to “let his work resonate within his soul,” writes a poem after each psychiatric case. And for the case in Light Sonata, he writes the line above. See a few of the elaborate faces running through the story.
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Orpheum Theater
In Light Sonata, Mennie wonders why gargoyles, winged bulls, and demonic faces appear on sacred buildings and theaters—a good question, given how Rupert experiences them. See faces from the real Orpheum and wonder why, too.