Brain Science and Behaviour Change

This is an edited version of this programme.

Matthew Taylor continues his exploration of "Brain Culture," looking at how multinational companies and governments are trying to alter our behaviour by exploiting new ideas about how decisions are made in the human brain. He looks at how "neuro-marketing," based on new understandings of how our brain operates automatically, is already all around us: in fast food restaurants, on some cherished TV ad campaigns, and even being used by politicians in elections. Number 10 is catching up: Matthew looks at the idea of "nudging" citizens to make decisions, and how brain science is feeding into it. The programme asks how valid the neuroscientists' challenging new ideas of human nature really are, and whether they are being overused by the powerful. Matthew also discovers how the science may be used to give us, as individuals, more power to control our lives and resist mind control.
Producer: Mukul Devichand.