Each year in the United States, players of sports and recreational activities receive between 2.5 and 4 million concussions. How dangerous are all those concussions? The answer is complicated and lies in how the brain responds when something strikes it. Clifford Robbins explains the science behind concussions. [Directed by Rémi Cans, narrated by...

After a traumatic brain injury, it sometimes happens that the brain can repair itself, building new brain cells to replace damaged ones. But the repair doesn't happen quickly enough to allow recovery from degenerative conditions like motor neuron disease (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS). Siddharthan Chandran walks through some new tec...

Here's a shocking statistic: 50 to 80 percent of people in the criminal justice system in the US have had a traumatic brain injury. In the general public, that number is less than five percent. Neuropsychologist Kim Gorgens shares her research into the connection between brain trauma and the behaviors that keep people in the revolving door of cr...

Kim Gorgens studies the brain's response to injury -- and advocates that we mind our (gray) matter.

Jeff Iliff is a neuroscientist who explores the unique functions of the brain.

Siddharthan Chandran explores how to heal damage from degenerative disorders such as MS and motor neuron disease (ALS).

Melissa Walker helps military service members recover from traumatic brain injury and mental illness.

David Camarillo's research focuses on understanding and preventing traumatic brain injury.

Dan Reisel studies the biology of change, including our ability to rewire our own brains. And he asks a big question: Instead of warehousing these criminals, shouldn't we be using what we know about the brain to help them rehabilitate? Put another way: If the brain can grow new neural pathways after an injury ... could we help the brain re-grow ...

Amy Cuddy’s research on body language reveals that we can change other people’s perceptions — and perhaps even our own body chemistry — simply by changing body positions.

TED Fellow Dr. Rebecca Brachman is a pioneer in the field of preventative psychopharmacology, developing drugs to enhance stress resilience and prevent mental illness.

Neurologist V.S. Ramachandran looks deep into the brain’s most basic mechanisms. By working with those who have very specific mental disabilities caused by brain injury or stroke, he can map functions of the mind to physical structures of the brain.

A spinal cord injury can sever the communication between your brain and your body, leading to paralysis. Fresh from his lab, Grégoire Courtine shows a new method -- combining drugs, electrical stimulation and a robot -- that could re-awaken the neural pathways and help the body learn again to move on its own. See how it works, as a paralyzed rat...

About this event: Our TEDx event in June consists of two videoed TED talks, with time between to chat. Our June event features: My Stoke of Insight Jill Bolte Taylor received a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions (motion, speech, self-awareness) shut down one by one. An astonishi...

In 1895, crowds flooded Coney Island to see America's first-ever looping coaster: the Flip Flap Railway. But its thrilling flip caused cases of severe whiplash, neck injury and even ejections. Today, coasters can pull off far more exciting tricks and do it safely. Brian D. Avery investigates what roller coasters are doing to your body and how th...

The heart is one of the least regenerative organs in the human body -- a big factor in making heart failure the number one killer worldwide. What if we could help heart muscle regenerate after injury? Physician and scientist Chuck Murry shares his groundbreaking research into using stem cells to grow new heart cells -- an exciting step towards r...

You may remember neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis — he built the brain-controlled exoskeleton that allowed a paralyzed man to kick the first ball of the 2014 World Cup. What’s he working on now? Building ways for two minds (rats and monkeys, for now) to send messages brain to brain. Watch to the end for an experiment that, as he says, will go to ...

Through treating everything from strokes to car accident traumas, neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch knows the brain's inability to repair itself all too well. But now, she suggests, she and her colleagues may have found the key to neural repair: Doublecortin-positive cells. Similar to stem cells, they are extremely adaptable and, when extracted from a...

Biomedical engineer David Camarillo reveals how much scientists still don't know about concussion and the brain. The word “concussion” evokes more fear than ever, and there’s definitely some evidence to support those fears. We know a repeated history of concussion can lead to chronic changes in the brain’s function and structure, resulting in e...

Vilayanur Ramachandran tells us what brain damage can reveal about the connection between celebral tissue and the mind, using three startling delusions as examples.

Counting the days ’til TED2015? Yeah: we are, too. Before the conference begins on March 16, dive into a great book written by one of our speakers. Books from speakers in Session 1, “Opening Gambit” National Insecurity: American Leadership in an Age of Fear, by David Rothkopf. The foreign policy specialist examines the way U.S. leaders have ...

Gamers, unite! Today, July 8, is officially known as Video Games Day. Whether you lose hours to your Xbox or stay glued to your smart phone to play, today is dedicated to all those games that rile you up and drive you crazy. These days, the most riveting video games use motion sensors, animation and artificial intelligence --  technologies that ...

Neuropsychologist Kim Gorgens makes the case for better protecting our brains against the risk of concussion -- with a compelling pitch for putting helmets on kids.

What if you could control digital devices using just the power of thought? That's the incredible promise behind the Stentrode -- an implantable brain-computer interface that collects and wirelessly transmits information directly from the brain, without the need for open surgery. Neurotech entrepreneur Tom Oxley describes the intricacies of this ...

Few people see the world in simple black-and-white terms -- instead, most of us, women and men alike, experience a wide spectrum of color, a world of differing viewpoints and nuance. This year's TEDxWomen, themed “The Space Between,” will explores the gradiation of the world around us. The event will feature six sessions: “Poverty and Plenty...

Art therapist Melissa Walker uses masks to allow service members with traumatic brain injuries to express their deepest emotions and experiences, helping them and their loved ones heal. Most people wear masks to obscure or change their identities. But through a unique art therapy program, veterans are using them to reveal truths -- often painfu...

Imagine the brain could reboot, updating its damaged cells with new, improved units. That may sound like science fiction — but it's a potential reality scientists are investigating right now. Ralitsa Petrova details the science behind neurogenesis and explains how we might harness it to reverse diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. [Directe...

How can we begin to understand the way the brain works? The same way we begin to understand a city: by making a map. In this visually stunning talk, Allan Jones shows how his team is mapping which genes are turned on in each tiny region, and how it all connects up.

Everyone experiences pain -- but why do some people react to the same painful stimulus in different ways? And what exactly is pain, anyway? Karen D. Davis walks you through your brain on pain, illuminating why the "pain experience" differs from person to person. [Directed by Brett Underhill, narrated by Addison Anderson].

TED2014, our 30th anniversary conference, is less than a month away! If you’re counting the days like we are, get a head start by reading some of the insightful and compelling books by the groundbreaking thinkers who will speak in Vancouver. Books from speakers in Session 1, “Liftoff” Being Digital, by Nicholas Negroponte. This 1995 bests...