
Continuing this medley of monthly brain blogs documenting some of my neuroscientific excursions onto other people’s prime time TV shows – this time it’s my appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.
I had at my disposal 5 jelly brains – each dyed a different colour to represent five different cognitive systems – to help me shed light on some of the typically erratic behaviour of some of the celebrity house mates.
Rylan and I started out by trying to explain the controversial decision of Marco Pierre White Junior to have sex live on television as a failure of his impulse control. I took it as a great opportunity to talk about the vitally important brain area (the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) that is to thank when we do manage to resist temptation (and to blame when we don’t!).
I wrapped up my 5 mins on the sofa with a summary of what it takes to be a winner on Celebrity Big Brother. I was dead chuffed that Rylan seemed to get so much out of having a neuroscientist on his show! Who’d’ve thunk it?!
This month’s brain blog is super short, as will next month’s be. I’ll complete the series of as-yet-previously-unseen-show-reel-clips dug out of the archive, with an appearance on a BBC Earth Michael Mosley show that took a bunch of former classmates back in time to their school days.
In addition to these monthly brain blogs, I’m still fairly active on Twitter (@drjacklewis) and am in the process of expanding my new business Brain Man VR Team Building – which helps companies understand how weekly use of Virtual Reality experiences can facilitate team work in a way that leaves videoconferencing solutions looking like ancient history.