By Stephen M. Scanlon

(NAPSI)—The WGBH Boston Science Unit is premiering two television programs this fall on PBS that focus on evolution and the development of the human brain.

The first, titled The Mind’s Big Bang, is the sixth episode in Evolution, a seven part, eight-hour mini-series airing on PBS September 24-27, 2001 from 8-10 P.M. E.T. (check local listings.)

Evolution, a multifaceted

project, examines the science of evolution and the effect it has on society and culture. The project includes the broadcast mini-series; an extensive national educational outreach initiative, including classroom and teacher training materials; a hands-on Web site (pbs.org/evolution); and a HarperCollins companion book by acclaimed science writer Carl

Zimmer (Parasite Rex).

The Mind’s Big Bang explores how the human mind—as we know it today—was born. Was the sudden emergence of creativity, communication, technology and culture exhibited by early modern humans approximately fifty-thousand years ago simply the result of an increase in brain size, or was it something else?

New, highly controversial scientific research suggests that evolution may have played a key role in elevating early modern humans to the position of the most dominant species on Earth by enhancing their mental capacity for creative, independent thought. Researchers like Drs. Richard Klein and Steven Pinker—both featured in The Mind’s Big Bang—posit that small changes in the human brain brought about by the simple mechanisms of evolution, variation and natural selection, catalyzed this revolutionary transformation and enabled early humans to prevail over the Neanderthals, with whom they had co-existed for tens of thousands of years.

The Mind’s Big Bang also explores where the power of the modern mind may ultimately lead us.

On Tuesday, October 23, 2001 at 8:00 P.M. E.T., (check local listings), NOVA will premiere Secrets of the Mind, a program that explores the work of neuroscientist Dr. V.S. Ramachandran—director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of San Diego.

Ramachandran attempts to combine clinical observations of individuals and scientific reasoning to explore how the brain reacts when it no longer gets expected input from a particular sector of the body.

For example, he examines the case of a young man who lost his arm in a motorcycle accident but can still feel the limb, or the case of a blind man who can still see. For Ramachandran, the interesting question is how time after time the mind constructs a model for reality separate from what actually exists.

Materials for teachers, including more information and insights into the program can be found at www.pbs.org/nova

NOVA is produced for the WGBH Science Unit; Evolution is a co-production of the WGBH/ NOVA Science Unit and Clear Blue Sky Productions.

Credit:Panel of the Negative Hands. Courtesy French Ministry of Culture and Communication.

This handprint from the Chauvet Cave in southern France represents the cultural boom that took place some 50,000 years ago, as a result of what scientists believe may have been a neurological change in the human brain.