PBS Makes a Connection in ‘Brain’

Don’t be intimidated by the notion of a five-part PBS series on the brain. A science class this isn’t. Executive producer David Grubin understands the strengths and weaknesses of television and has constructed “The Secret Life of the Brain” in a format and style that make it readily accessible to anyone interested in knowing more about this most complex of human organs.

“I’ve always felt confident that television can communicate complex ideas as long as they are rooted in the emotional contours of our lives,” Grubin writes in the foreword to the series’ companion book of the same title, by Richard Restak.

Far from being an academic discourse on how the brain develops and functions, “The Secret Life of the Brain” explores its topic by breaking the episodes into five stages of life and showing us people in each of them with brain-related (and heartstring-tugging) problems that have new chances for being cured thanks to incredible advances in scientific understanding.

Tonight’s premiere (9 p.m., KCET), for example, focuses on babies and uses the case of an infant with a cataract to help explain the concept of “brain wiring” that takes place in the early months of life.

Installments in succeeding weeks introduce, among others, a child with dyslexia, a teenager on drugs, an adult struggling with depression and a senior citizen with Alzheimer’s.

The emphasis on wringing emotion from these stories cuts into time that could have been spent imparting even more information from scientists about the brain, but on balance it was probably a wise choice since it lets us see the practical application of their work. What they are learning about the brain is not simply fodder for text books; it is knowledge that impacts all of us.