Latest Videos

Savants: A new chapter

For the last six years Ione Kuhner has gradually lost her grasp on much of daily life due to Early-onset Alzheimer's. But amazingly she's also started painting … something the former dental assistant had never thought about doing before her illness. Susan Spencer reports.

• Mar 18, 2018
• 02:55

Altered states: Can LSD contribute to mental health?

Faith Salie reports on how LSD and "magic mushrooms" are being studied for their ability to help patients conquer anxiety and depression without the psychedelia long associated with mind-altering drugs. Salie talks with author Ayelet Waldman, who microdosed LSD and overcame a deep depression, and with NYU professor Tony Bossis, who conducted a clinical trial of cancer patients treated for depression with a one-time dose of the psychedelic Psilocybin.

• Mar 18, 2018
• 05:19

Changing minds

Actress Glenn Close has taken on a new role - hoping to help de-stigmatize mental illness. That's because mental illness runs in her own family. (Her nephew, Calen, has schizophrenia; and her sister Jessie, after a lifetime of struggles, has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.) Glenn and Jessie have since started a foundation, Bring Change to Mind, to encourage communication around mental health. Tracy Smith reports.

• Mar 18, 2018
• 06:01

Are animals smarter than us?

What goes on in an animal's mind? A neuroscientist at Emory University believed he might find out by placing dogs in an MRI scanner, and analyzing how their brains respond to different stimulations. Martha Teichner checked out his findings, and the research of other scientists studying the complexities of elephants and dolphins, and learned that humans may not be smart enough to understand the intelligence of animals.

• Mar 18, 2018
• 05:59

Savants: Mark your calendar

Artist George Widener is a calendar savant. Give him a year and a date, and he'll produce the day of the week with astonishing accuracy. Susan Spencer reports.

• Mar 18, 2018
• 03:04

Handiwork: How busy hands may help the brain

Researchers think activities that occupy our hands, like folding laundry, doing yardwork or knitting, are actually making our brains happier. Tony Dokoupil talks with Dr. Kelly Lambert of the University of Richmond, and author Matthew Crawford ("Shop Class as Soulcraft"), who's never happier than when he is tinkering in the garage. Dokoupil also tests out the theory with artist Zaria Forman, who concocts vivid paintings without ever putting brush to canvas.

• Mar 18, 2018
• 04:40

ESP and espionage: How psychics aided the U.S. government

In the 1970s Uri Geller popularized the notion of extra-sensory perception, or ESP - the ability to read other people's minds, or affect change without physically touching an object. Is ESP for real? The U.S. government aimed to find out, spending decades studying psychic phenomena, and even employing psychics and mediums as "psychic spies." Erin Moriarty reports.

• Mar 18, 2018
• 06:51

Savants: A hands-on artist

A childhood injury left Alonzo Clemons with severe brain damage. He can't read or write or do math. And yet, as naturally as the rest of us breathe, Clemons can create beautifully intricate sculptures of animals, all with his bare hands. Susan Spencer reports.

• Mar 18, 2018
• 03:03

A brush with madness

Vincent Van Gogh is just one of scores of artists, writers, musicians and other creative people who are known or believed to have suffered from mental illness. What goes on in the brain that might create a relationship between mania and creativity? Rita Braver reports.

• Mar 18, 2018
• 05:24

Passage: Remembering Stephen Hawking

"Sunday Morning" looks back at the life of the acclaimed theoretical physicist and author of "A Brief History of Time," who died this week at 76. Jane Pauley reports.

• Mar 18, 2018