How stressed out do you get by TV quiz shows? And would that change if you were a contestant yourself? Cognitive researchers at the University of Arizona have studied back-episodes of Mastermind to find out how people react in high-stress situations - particularly how much they blink. Their findings offer insight into how blinking changes in stressful and mentally challenging situations – but also what it can tell us about cognitive processes. Claudia Hammond hears from BBC presenter and Celebrity Mastermind "Champion of Champions" 2019, Samira Ahmed, and speaks to Bob Wilson, associate professor in cognitive science and psychology at the University of Arizona, about the research.
Have you ever walked into a room and completely forgotten what you came in for? Studies show that changing your physical location can "bookend" thoughts and shape how our memories compartmentalise information. Now a new study has been looking at whether shifts in our moods can do the same. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, used music to elicit specific emotions in subjects, so they could assess how changes in emotional states might affect how memories are formed. Claudia hears from assistant professor of psychology, David Clewett, one of the paper’s authors.
And this week's studio guest Catherine Loveday, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Westminster, explains why anger can on occasion be a rather useful emotion.
Organisations offering information and support relating to some of the issues covered in this series of All In The Mind can be found at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Lucy Taylor Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Production Coordinator: Siobhan Maguire Editor: Holly Squire
Anxiety and children; First impressions; Mental health manifestos; Insiders' Guide
Transient amnesia; Mindfulness in schools; Insiders' Guide; Autism in Somali culture
Mental health support in the community; Insiders' Guide to Mental Health; Confidence
The Everyday Effect of Unconscious Bias
Cyber snooping your therapist; Performing anxiety; Insiders' Guide; Bribery and corruption
Heart failure; Insiders' Guide to Mental Health; Use of you
Adult ADHD; Insiders' Guide to Mental Health Services; Wound healing & expressive writing
Boomerang generation, Listener feedback, All in the Mind Awards, The lipstick effect
ADHD and mindwandering, Treating insomnia helps depression, Think Ahead scheme
Pathological Demand Avoidance, Is wisdom a trait or a state, Anxiety-free comedy gigs
Adolescent brain, Awards update, Phonagnosia
Time travelling in the human mind
How Are Memories Formed?
Taking pride, Correct vocabulary in describing mental health, Green exercise
Tasers, Amnesia Museum, The dangers of diagnosing Donald Trump
All in the Mind Awards Ceremony from Wellcome Collection in London
Care farming; All in the Mind Awards; Turn-taking in conversation
Supertaskers, Technology to Replace Exams and the All in the Mind Awards
Aircraft noise and mental health, All in the Mind Awards, Imitation in newborn babies
The Depressed Cake Shop, Gut bacteria and the mind, The perils of perception
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