In this video for BBC Culture’s A Sensory World series, Red Szell wonders what happens to our brains when we learn Braille.
“Surely the part of my brain that I used to read with had to shut down along with my sight?” In this video, Red Szell asks. The 53-year-old Londoner went blind several years ago as a result of the degenerative eye condition Retinitis pigmentosa and has relied on audiobooks ever since.
Szell decided to learn Braille earlier this year, with unexpected results, as he explains in this video for BBC Culture’s A Sensory World series. In it, he interviews a brain scientist whose research has yielded unexpected results.
Red Szell wrote and presented the video; Chris Griffiths filmed and edited it; and Archie Crofton animated it.
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Why does music give you chills or goosebumps?
In this video for A Sensory World, we look at the phenomenon of frisson, which is the sudden rush of goosebumps that some people get when listening to an emotionally charged piece of music.
Frisson is the French word for “shiver,” but in this case, we’re shivering because we’re stimulated by music, not because we’re cold.
When we hear a particular piece of music or see a particular work of art, we may experience an intense psychological and physiological reaction. “You get this sudden rush of dopamine,” explains psychologist Dr Rebecca Johnson-Osei. “It’s a similar pathway that gets activated with sex and other things that are rewarding to our brains.”
Greg Dukes directed and presented the piece.
Griesham Taan served as the commissioning editor.
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ASMR’s strange and wonderful world
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a tingling sensation that some people experience when they see or hear certain stimuli. We meet the people behind the current ASMR craze.
ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is a tingling sensation that some people experience when they hear certain sounds or see certain visual stimuli. Whispering and quietly tapping on inanimate objects are both ASMR-inducing techniques, but there’s a lot more to it.
The path of this strange phenomenon is intriguing, and ASMR content is now popular worldwide.
This film explores the exhibition Weird Sensation Feels Good: The World of ASMR at London’s Design Museum, the first to celebrate the strangely pleasant world of ASMR. It also reveals the “ASMRtists,” or online creators Gibi and Made in France ASMR, who are pushing the boundaries of creativity.
According to Gibi, ASMR helps to reduce viewers’ anxiety and counteract negative feelings. “A lot of people would try to hide the fact that they watched it,” she says. “And it’s now fantastic; it’s completely blown up. I believe that many people have realised how beneficial it is and how desperately we require this type of stress relief.”
Precious Adesina wrote and presented this video.
Paul Ivan Harris shot and edited the video.
Lindsay Baker commissioned it.
This video is part of the A Sensory World series on BBC Culture and BBC Reel.
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Synaesthesia: The’superpower’ that underpins great art
Artists ranging from Van Gogh to Pharrell Williams have investigated how synaesthesia enhances the senses. In the first instalment of our Sensory World series, we investigate what it can teach us about how people perceive the world differently.
Synaesthesia is a different way of seeing the world in which the senses are mixed. Temperature causes some people to hear colours, smell flavours, or see shapes.
Hearing from people who have synaesthesia can help us understand how different people perceive the world and how reality is a subjective experience.
Several artists, including Vincent van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, and Pharrell Williams, have recreated their own synaesthetic experiences in their work throughout history.
Josefa (Pepa) Salas Vilar is a synaesthete who perceives colour and movement in written words, sounds, and numbers. She discovered that the best way to express her unique worldview is through artistic means. “I consider synaesthesia to be an intensity enhancer,” she says.
“I am a puzzle piece, and art is like finding my puzzle.”
Gabriel Pecot and Cecilia Guardati created the video.
Griesham Taan commissioned
This video is part of the new A Sensory World series on BBC Culture and BBC Reel.
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