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Factual: Health & Wellbeing

The show with the latest evidence on psychology, mental health and neuroscience.

The show on how we think, feel and behave. Claudia Hammond delves into the evidence on mental health, psychology and neuroscience.

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All in the Mind: Compassion and Faith - Junk Food Adverts - Magicians

Compassion and Faith - Junk Food Adverts - Magicians

07/06/2011

BBC Radio 4 - All in the Mind, Compassion and Faith - Junk Food Adverts - Magicians

Claudia Hammond talks to Professor Paul Gilbert about compassion.

Claudia Hammond talks to Paul Gilbert about compassion, what is it, why did it evolve and why is it useful as a basis for talking therapies?

Compassion for our fellow human beings is something that's long been taught by different faiths and traditions. But could it be used as a tool within therapy to improve mental health? There's a growing interest in compassion-focussed therapy - both for other people and for oneself. It has its roots in the understanding of how the brain evolved. At the moment it is being used most often with people from neglectful or abusive backgrounds. Professor Paul Gilbert, who's the Director of the Mental Health Research Unit at Derbyshire Mental Health Trust and one of his patients - "Jo" - explain what's involved. 

Could a "junk food" adverts watershed help in the battle against childhood obesity? Since 2009 there's been a ban on adverts for junk food during children's TV programmes and on dedicated children's channels. But advertisements for high fat, salt or sugar foods are still allowed during programmes like soap operas - which families often watch together. At a conference in London this week - "Marketing to Children: Implications for Obesity", Dr Emma Boyland is calling for a 9pm watershed on such adverts to help reduce their influence on children. She explains the psychological responses of children to such advertising in her study in primary schools. 

Magicians persuade their audiences that their eyes are indeed deceiving them - when they dazzle with disappearing rabbits and great feats of memory. But can our knowledge of the brain teach a magician a thing or two? A husband and wife team of neuroscientists from the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona - Susanna Martinez Conde and Stephen Macknik - have written a book "Sleights of Mind", explaining how magicians can make the mind work against you.

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