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The Case of The Missing Gorilla

“How can I be immersed in a book, and still notice my name?” asks Charlotte.

DO WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?

Good! But how does that work!?

Our intrepid science sleuths explore why some things immediately catch your eye - or ear - while others slip by totally unnoticed. Even, on occasion, basketball bouncing gorillas.

Professor Polly Dalton, a psychologist who leads The Attention Lab at Royal Holloway University, shares her surprising research into ‘inattentional blindness’ - when you get so absorbed in a task you can miss striking and unusual things going on right in front of you.

Dr Gemma Briggs from the Open University reveals how this can have dangerous everyday consequences: you are four times more likely to have a crash if you talk on the phone while driving -even handsfree.

Drs Rutherford and Fry also hear from stroke survivor Thomas Canning, who developed the tendency to ignore everything on the left side of space, despite his vision being totally intact.

And Dr Tom Manly, from the University of Cambridge’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, helps our sleuths unpack the neuroscience of this fascinating condition.

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Tue 11 Oct 2022 19:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Mon 10 Oct 2022 19:32GMT
  • Tue 11 Oct 2022 03:32GMT
  • Tue 11 Oct 2022 04:32GMT
  • Tue 11 Oct 2022 08:32GMT
  • Tue 11 Oct 2022 12:32GMT
  • Tue 11 Oct 2022 19:32GMT

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