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Saturday 03 January 2009

A day in the life of...Meet the Ingersons

Four-year-old Tara has a very special brain. Like Rain Man, she was born without a Corpus Callosum. It's the head's superhighway -- a thick band of nerve fibres connecting the two hemispheres of the brain. Join Natasha Mitchell as she experiences a day in the life of the Ingerson family, with rare insights into one of the most complicated neurological birth defects.  Read Transcript

Saturday 27 December 2008

Disembodied brains, culture and science: Indigenous lives under gaze [Part 2 of 2]

Maori people believe the body is derived from the earth, and returns to the ancestral earth at death—complete. The flesh, and all its bits, are sacred. The new Human Tissue Bill in New Zealand has provoked debate over who owns your body at death—you or your family? The Maori Party argues the legislation is Western-centric and racist. And, a young Maori scientist working with post-mortem brain tissue is breaking new ground, to keep her lab life 'culturally safe', in consultation with her tribe.  Read Transcript

Saturday 20 December 2008

Disembodied brains, culture and science: Indigenous lives under gaze (Part 1 of 2)

The incredible saga of Ishi, California's last 'wild' Indian, is the stuff of American folklore. It's also the quest for a lost brain, taken from Ishi's tuberculosis ravaged body at death—only to be rediscovered and repatriated 80 years later. And next week—a young Maori scientist working with post-mortem brain tissue is breaking new ground, to keep her lab life 'culturally safe'.  Read Transcript

Saturday 13 December 2008

Untangling the talk

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.  Read Transcript

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