The selfie - just an exercise in self-obsessed narcissism or potential store for scientific research? A picture can tell far more than 1,000 words. A selfie can define you, it can locate you, it can help analyse air quality, they can track cultures and fashions and during the Rio Olympic Games a simple photograph between to Korean athletes crossed a political divide.

The selfie is the artistic expression du jour and, love them or hate them, they're not going anywhere fast. But the selfie isn't a new thing, portraiture has been seen in art for centuries. So what is our fascination with the representation of our self and why do we want to share it with the world?

In this episode of Brainwaves, Pennie Latin explores the science of the selfie, what they can tell us about ourselves and discovers how your selfies are helping scientists learn more about the world around us. Show less