This 3-part miniseries (47 minutes each) produced by Windfall Films called My Brilliant Brain (UK) or Brain Child (US) heavily features LearningGames^® and the Abecedarian Project in its first episode.

The Series

Each episode in this series will explore the brainpower of an extraordinary human being: a seven year old concert pianist with a repertoire of 40 pieces; a female chess grandmaster who takes on all comers blindfolded, and a savant impaired by autism but blessed with superhuman powers of memory and calculation.

All three are brilliant individuals with extreme skills, but the way in which they got their skills is different in each case--seemingly born, made, or acquired by accident.

Far from showing up the shortcomings of our own brains, understanding these extraordinary brains will be a revelation. We will realise just how amazing and powerful the brain really is and will catch a glimpse of the genius hidden in all of us.

Episode 1-Born Genius

Marc Yu is a seven-year old like no other. At the age of two he heard "Mary had a little lamb" at a birthday party, pulled himself up to a piano and played it back flawlessly. A year later he was playing Beethoven from memory. In his first cello lesson at age four he demanded to be taught a Bach Sonata. Today he can play over classical 40 pieces from memory.

In this film will look at how a brain grows from conception to puberty to find out how we can explain the marvel of gifted children. Children like Marc seem to defy the rules of brain development. A child so young should not be able to do things so advanced. Where does this amazing talent come from--is it because Marc started so early and worked hard, or could he have been born with a brilliant brain?
Read More

Watch a video clip featuring the Abecedarian Project.

Episode 2-Make me a Genius

Susan Polgar is the world's first female chess grandmaster. But she wasn't born with her brilliant brain - it was created by a unique experiment that dominated her childhood. She is living proof that any normal child can be turned into a genius, by practice alone. This is the story of how Susan's training produced a brain perfectly adapted to her single life-long obsession.

We will delve into Susan's childhood in Hungary, dominated by a father who wanted to prove his theory that anyone can become a genius if they start early and work hard enough.

Episode 3-Accidental Genius

George Widener is autistic. But he can calculate the day of the week for any date in history--and thousands of years into the future--with lightning speed. George is a savant--one of about a hundred people in the world who have a serious disability, but also a seemingly superhuman mental power.

Tommy McHugh, a builder and ex-convict, suffered a brain haemorrhage six years ago, which triggered a mysterious artistic mania that lasts to this day. Tommy gives us a unique glimpse into the shadowy realm of creativity--he may just be able to show us where the muse resides in the brain.

Can brain damage make you brilliant? Remarkable talents can emerge as a result of disability or trauma - even quite late in a person's life, posing the tantalizing notion that we all may have amazing talents hidden in our brains. So will science allow us to unleash these talents at will? One neuroscientist in Australia thinks this day is not far off--and he's willing to prove it.