National Geographic Channel Assembles the Nation's Leading Experts to Unlock the Mysteries of the Mind in the New Series Brain Games

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National Geographic Channel invites you to explore a world where time slows down, reality is an illusion and things aren't always as they seem — the human brain. Taking a close look at your brain's gray matter, and all the neurons and synapses in between, Brain Games uncovers the surprising nature of how we process information, feel emotions and perceive the world around us.

Wonder junkie and self-proclaimed "idea DJ" Jason Silva and "The Gentleman Thief" Apollo Robbins size up the human brain with an intricate series of interactive experiments to see how easily the brain can be fooled. Get ready for lots of mind-blowing illusions, games and challenges that will make you question whether "seeing is actually believing."

"The human brain is incredibly complex, and we're just beginning to scratch the surface of what makes us tick," said Jerry Kolber, Executive Producer of Brain Games, who along with his team spent hours researching, developing and shooting each elaborate game. "In addition to Jason Silva and Apollo Robbins' wildly entertaining experiments, we've gathered the nation's leading experts in visual perception, sound, creativity, lying, attractiveness and persuasion to take viewers through the science behind these mental mysteries."

The experts who explain the "why" behind the "wow" in Brain Games include:

Joshua Ackerman, Assistant Professor of Marketing, MIT Sloan School of Management. Ackerman's research focuses on nonconscious and evolutionary influences on social behavior. ("Power of Persuasion," May 6, 9 PM ET)

Daylain Cain, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior, Yale School of Management. Cain's research focuses on ethics and decision making, and looks to uncover the reasons behind why good people do bad things and why intelligent people make foolish decisions. ("You Decide," June 3, 9 PM ET)

Mark Changizi, Theoretical Neurobiologist. Changizi aims to grasp the ultimate foundations underlying why we think, feel and see as we do. His research has led to several important discoveries, including why we see in color, why we see illusions and why we have forward-facing eyes. ("Illusion Confusion," June 17, 9 PM ET)

Janine Driver, Founder and President, The Body Language Institute. Driver is a world-renowned body language expert, as well as the go-to authority in lie detecting and body language for the FBI; CIA; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the International Chiefs of Police. ("Liar, Liar," June 24, 9 PM ET)

Helen Fisher, Research Professor and Member of the Center for Human Evolution Studies in the Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University. A biological anthropologist, Fisher has conducted extensive research and written five books on the evolution and future of human sex, love, marriage, gender differences in the brain and how your personality type shapes who you are and who you love. ("Battle of the Sexes," May 20, 9 PM ET)

Scott Barry Kaufman, Adjunct Professor of Psychology at New York University and Co-founder of The Creativity Post. Kaufman is a cognitive psychologist interested in the development of intelligence, creativity and personality. ("Use It or Lose It," June 10, 9 PM ET)

Barry McManus, Vice President of Deception Detection Services, Abraxas Corporation. McManus is the leading expert in deception detection, behavioral assessment, interviews and interrogations, and has more than 30 years of polygraph examination, debriefing and research experience. ("Liar, Liar," June 24, 9 PM ET)

Brian Scholl, Professor of Psychology, Director of the Perception and Cognition Laboratory and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Cognitive Science major at Yale University. Scholl's research is deepening our understanding of visual cognition, attention and awareness, with the primary goal of exploring how perception interfaces with the rest of the mind. ("Focus Pocus," April 22, 9 PM ET)

Arthur Shapiro, Professor of Psychology, American University. Shapiro is highly regarded for his visual perception studies, and is best known for explaining how individuals see motion in an image. ("Motion Commotion," April 29, 9 M ET)

Dan Simons, Professor, Department of Psychology and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois. Simons is an authority on visual cognition, and his research explores the limitations of the mind and why we are often unaware of those limits. ("Seeing Is Believing," June 24, 9:30 PM ET)

Chess Stetson, Postdoctoral Scholar, California Institute of Technology. Stetson's research is focused on how the brain perceives time, whether multiple areas of the brain are responsible for estimating time, how fear changes our experience of time and how timing in single neurons affects cortical function. ("It's About Time," April 22, 9:30 PM ET)

Alex Todorov, Professor of Psychology, Princeton University. Todorov studies the cognitive and neural basis of social cognition — how our brains perceive other people. In 1998, he conducted a study using computer models to demonstrate that perceived competence and trustworthiness of candidates' faces are highly accurate predictors of electoral race outcomes. ("Power of Persuasion," May 6, 9 PM ET)

Shankar Vedantam, Journalist and Author. Vedantam is a science correspondent for NPR and the author of "The Hidden Brain," which explores how unconscious biases affect people by creating false confidence and the illusion of knowledge. ("What You Don't Know," May 13, 9 PM ET)

Brain Games is produced for National Geographic Channel by National Geographic Television (NGT). For NGT, Jerry Kolber is executive producer. For NGC, Lynn Sadofsky is vice president of production and development, Allan Butler is executive producer, Michael Cascio is executive vice president of programming and Howard T. Owens is president.

For more information, visit www.natgeotv.com/braingames and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NGC_PR. 

National Geographic Channels

Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channels US are a joint venture between National Geographic and Fox Cable Networks.  The Channels contribute to the National Geographic Society's commitment to exploration, conservation and education with smart, innovative programming and profits that directly support its mission.  Launched in January 2001, National Geographic Channel (NGC) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the debut of NGC HD.  In 2010, the wildlife and natural history cable channel Nat Geo WILD was launched, and in 2011, the Spanish-language network Nat Geo Mundo was unveiled.  The Channels have carriage with all of the nation's major cable, telco and satellite television providers, with NGC currently available in 84 million U.S. homes.  Globally, National Geographic Channel is available in 440 million homes in 171 countries and 38 languages.  For more information, visit www.natgeotv.com.

SOURCE National Geographic Channel