The Brain Explained: 4. Food For Thought?

The fourth film in The Brain Explained series looks at the relationship between brain function, diet and exercise using expert commentary by neuroscientist Dr Guy Sutton, Director of Medical Biology Interactive – a name that will be very familiar to teachers and students of A-level Psychology.

It’s well-known that a processed fast-food diet and sedentary lifestyle are not good for our general health and well-being, but recent research suggests an ultra-processed food and lack of exercise are also harming our brain. What we eat, in other words, affects how we think: research with both animals and humans has shown that food missing natural ingredients affects cognitive functions, like memory. Higher ultra-processed food intake was consistently linked with faster cognitive decline, memory loss and greater general neurodegeneration – significant findings for both teachers and students.

The film follows and complements the previous films in the series (Inside the Brain that looks at the structure and function of the human brain, Researching the Brain that shows how our knowledge and understanding of the brain was revolutionised by developments in neuroimaging and The Brain and the Environment that explains how environmental factors affect brain development and call into question the usefulness of the age-old nature vs. nurture debate.

As with the other films in the series, Food For Thought? Is available to both buy (yours to keep forever, no questions asked) and rent (a generous 7-day rental period for the price of not-very-much-at-all).

Alternatively

This film is part of the Psychology Film Club, to which, for just a few dollars more than they would cost you to buy, you can get an annual subscription for £25 (+vat). This gives you unfettered access to our complete library of “over 70” (i.e. 71) Psychology films aimed at enhancing your students’ a-level experience.

And as an added bonus we’ve thrown in complete access to our Sociology library “for free”.

Sort of.