“So Human, So Chimp” premieres January 13 on PBS.

“So Human, So Chimp” premieres January 13 on PBS.

“Becoming Us” premieres January 6 on PBS.

“Becoming Us” premieres January 6 on PBS.

photo © Larry Engel, 2008

Premieres January 20, 2010 at 8pm (check local listings)

In the futuristic setting of the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at the University of California, Los Angeles, Alan gets a highly detailed scan of his brain – which for a man in his early 70s, is in remarkably good shape. This image, projected on a huge curved screen behind him, is the starting point for a search within his brain – as well as the brains of others – for the essential components of the Human Spark; a search informed by what the previous two programs have revealed about the attributes that make humans unique.

One of those faculties is language. Through both functional brain scans and high-tech EEGs, we probe for the language centers within Alan’s brain, including those employed to recognize mistakes in grammar – and discover the way language allows us to manipulate symbols in our minds. He also untangles the complex story of a gene called FOXP2, visiting researchers in England and Germany as well as the US who are using FOXP2 as an exciting new window into how language may have evolved. Other functional scans of Alan’s brain reveal a fascinating link between two of humans’ most characteristic abilities – language and the use of tools.

The hottest topic in brain research these days is social cognition, the unparalleled ability of humans to forge social bonds. There may be other social creatures but none comes close in our dependence upon being embedded from birth in a rich and enriching skein of social relationships. Alan goes to Oxford, England to talk to one of the founders of the field who argues that we owe the very existence of our large brains to the need to keep track of the social whirl. And again we probe Alan’s brain for the centers that make this possible, especially those that allow us to understand (and manipulate) the minds of others. These regions are also related to brain centers that are most active when we are simply doing nothing – day-dreaming, or “mentalizing” – and this ability to build worlds and plans in our heads, especially involving the imagined thoughts and responses of others, perhaps come closest to being the elusive Human Spark.

photo © Larry Engel, 2008

Premieres January 13, 2010 at 8pm (check local listings)

We are separated from our nearest relatives, the chimpanzees, by only one or two percent of our genes – but also by some 6 million years of going our different evolutionary ways. So when we meet the eyes of a chimp we are reminded uncannily – and perhaps a little uneasily – of ourselves. But we are also aware that behind those eyes is a mind very different from our own. Alan Alda sets out to explore that difference, and quickly finds that the scientists studying chimps and other non-human primates are themselves separated into opposing worldviews. One camp emphasizes the continuity between us – seeing everything we believe to be uniquely human present in at least a rudimentary form in our ape and even monkey cousins. The other camp sees a sharp discontinuity in our abilities, admiring chimps for their superb adaptation to their (rapidly disappearing) forest environment, but also granting to human minds a special status that has enabled us to conquer the planet (and cause those forests to disappear).

In visiting with chimps and those who study them, Alan challenges the arguments of both sides in the debate. Yes, chimps exhibit empathy for others in their group; is that the same empathy humans show for victims of a far off natural disaster? Chimps have cultural practices they pass on within their social group; are those cultures the same as the cultures that can separate humans into “us” and “them?” Chimps can easily tell the difference between heavy and light, but do they have a concept of heavy and light? Chimps use tools, and can be taught that symbols represent objects; does that mean they have technology and language? Chimps can cooperate on tasks that reward them with food. Is that the same cooperation humans employ to build a skyscraper or rescue the victims of an earthquake or even agree to take a walk together? Chimps and monkeys both seem able to judge the intentions of others. Does that mean they wonder, and worry, about who is saying what about whom, and why? And what about that one or two percent change in our DNA? Do those figures mask not a tiny difference but an evolutionary chasm?

In short, how much of the Human Spark flared only since we evolved away from our non-human primate cousins, and how much was already there at the parting of the ways?