Neil Patrick Harris was the unseen narrator in the first season, replaced by Jason Silva for the remainder of the series as its host and presenter; in addition, sleight-of-hand artist Apollo Robbins has been a frequent consultant and illusionist guest on the show. As time passed, Magician Eric Leclerc took over this role in seasons 4 and 5. The show is interactive, encouraging television viewers, often along with a handful of live volunteers, to engage in visual, auditory, and other cognitive experiments, or "brain games", that emphasize the main points presented in each episode. Experts like Sri Sarma also explain why humans react in a certain way because of the brain.
In December 2019, it was announced that a new format of this series, hosted by Keegan-Michael Key, would premiere on January 20, 2020; neuroscientist Daniel Levitin was brought in as a script consultant for the season to ensure accuracy. Its sneak peek was played on December 29, 2019.[4][5] On January 17, 2020, a ninth season was announced,[6] but production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ninth season was branded as "Brain Games: On the Road",[citation needed] and was hosted by Chuck Nice and was released on both National Geographic and Disney+.
National Geographic announced that the show would return as a 2-hour live event in the fall of 2018,[7] but as of April 2020[update] no live event has been broadcast.
Former detective Greg Walsh exposes memory weakness in a staged scenario where a guy's camera is stolen and the eyewitnesses provide conflicting accounts of what happened.
Season 2 (2013)
Jason Silva takes over as the new host.
No. overall
No. in season
Title
Original release date
Season
4
1
"Focus Pocus"
April 22, 2013 (2013-04-22)
Highlights our misconception that your brain is able to focus on everything important at any given time. Games and scenarios involving football and cheerleaders, and a dinner scenario.
5
2
"It's About Time"
April 22, 2013 (2013-04-22)
Topics on how the brain tries to measure time to speed up or slow down depending on the situation. Games and scenarios involving bullriders, counting intervals, information overload, audio and visual syncing, and a bar trick on snatching money.
6
3
"Motion Commotion"
April 29, 2013 (2013-04-29)
Explore how your brain uses and reacts to motion to make decisions. Games and scenarios where images appear to be moving a certain way when they are not, sleight-of-hand trick with Apollo Robbins, the effect of sound on perception, and when focusing on one object causes ones in the periphery to move differently.
7
4
"Don't Be Afraid"
April 29, 2013 (2013-04-29)
How fear plays into your perceptions on things. Games and scenarios involving trying to remember things when there is fear involved, how sound effects and music can make a scene look scary. Silva plays a Russian-roulette type of game where he experiences the powers of dread. Trying to remember objects in a haunted house. Volunteers go into a dark room and encounter creepy things.
8
5
"Power of Persuasion"
May 6, 2013 (2013-05-06)
How marketers and advertisers manipulate your brain to persuade you. Games and scenarios involving priming, a demonstration involving smashing crates, a guy impersonates a reporter, a game where the viewer chooses the winners of an election based solely on their headshots, and an interview scenario about first impressions.
9
6
"What You Don't Know"
May 13, 2013 (2013-05-13)
Topics on how the brain tricks you into thinking you know more than you do. Silva asks a class to try to figure out how a zipper works, and to draw a bicycle, later showing what those designs would actually look like. A series of questions where the viewer is asked to give a range for their answer and how confident they would be in it. How the brain discards information when focusing on a certain task or assumes words were there when they were not.
10
7
"Battle of the Sexes"
May 20, 2013 (2013-05-20)
Men and women compete in a series of tasks to see whether their gender makes a difference. Games involving color swatches, putting together pieces to make a shape, following directions on a list, matching faces of people, and packing a trunk.
Special
11
N/A
"Blow Your Mind"
May 24, 2013 (2013-05-24)
Season
12
8
"Seeing is Believing"
May 27, 2013 (2013-05-27)
Illusions highlight how your visual perceptions can be surprisingly off. Scenarios and games involving perspective such as the cube of fire, a distorted chair, the Ames room, and a dining table. Basketball players put on goggles that distort their perspective. Puzzles involving the spinning ballerina, Einstein's mask, and how resizing a picture can make it look like two different people. Using anamorphic art to place a cube in a room.
13
9
"You Decide"
June 3, 2013 (2013-06-03)
The subject of decisions. A demonstration of The Paradox of Choice in choosing ice cream. A game where the person chooses one of two people, but ends up talking about the other. Trick questions that can be answered if the person slows down to think about it. A marketing trick where placing an intermediate item in a comparison can trick the person into favoring a certain choice. An experiment where folks end up finding differences among identical items.
14
10
"Use it or Lose it"
June 10, 2013 (2013-06-10)
The brain can be exercised like muscle. Games and puzzles such as connecting nine dots with three lines, using thinking like a child to come up with creative ideas, another sleight-of-hand trick with Robbins, trick questions, using mnemonics to remember people's names, and solving a puzzle using ordinary items in a way they were not originally designed.
15
11
"Illusion Confusion"
June 17, 2013 (2013-06-17)
Optical illusions highlight how powerful our minds can really be.
16
12
"Liar, Liar"
June 24, 2013 (2013-06-24)
Learn how to determine if someone is lying.
Season 3 (2013–14)
Often games are less intense than season 2 and experiments with random people on the street are done.
No. overall
No. in season
Title
Original release date
17
1
"Battle of the Ages"
November 11, 2013 (2013-11-11)
The mental differences between kids, teens, and adults.
18
2
"In Living Color"
January 6, 2014 (2014-01-06)
Color is simply too complex to simply be black and white.
19
3
"Laws of Attraction"
January 13, 2014 (2014-01-13)
It shows how attractions come down to basic math.
20
4
"Trust Me"
January 20, 2014 (2014-01-20)
It shows how can you find out whom to trust.
21
5
"Stress Test"
January 27, 2014 (2014-01-27)
Explains how much stress you can handle before you "collapse" under pressure.
22
6
"What's Going On?"
February 3, 2014 (2014-02-03)
How things aren't like you think they are.
23
7
"Retrain your Brain"
February 24, 2014 (2014-02-24)
Explains how to make your brain healthier.
24
8
"Mind your Body"
March 3, 2014 (2014-03-03)
Who wins in your life, your body or your brain?
25
9
"In It To Win It"
March 10, 2014 (2014-03-10)
How does competition affect your brain?
26
10
"Follow the Leader"
March 17, 2014 (2014-03-17)
Everyone likes to think they're unique, but like it or not, much of your behavior is influenced by copying other people. Discover whether your brain is a born leader, or a born follower.
Season 4 (2014)
Graphics get an update. The show introduces new experts and illusionists/magicians.
No. overall
No. in season
Title
Original release date
Special
27
N/A
"Trust Me"
July 6, 2014 (2014-07-06)
28
N/A
"Brain vs. Body"
July 13, 2014 (2014-07-13)
Season
29
1
"Compassion"
July 14, 2014 (2014-07-14)
Discover if you're compassionate or psychopathic in a series of games and experiments.
30
2
"Addiction"
July 14, 2014 (2014-07-14)
Discover how addiction affects your brain, and whether addictions are necessary.
33
3
"Language"
July 21, 2014 (2014-07-21)
Discover how your brain handles language, and why words mean what they do.
34
4
"Risk"
July 21, 2014 (2014-07-21)
Are you risk-taking or cautious? Put your betting skills to the test.
35
5
"Battle of the Sexes 2"
July 28, 2014 (2014-07-28)
It's "male vs. female" again with more games and experiments. And this time, we will have a winner.
36
6
"Superstitions"
July 28, 2014 (2014-07-28)
Discover how your brain is designed to believe in various superstitions.
37
7
"Food"
August 4, 2014 (2014-08-04)
Find out that restaurants trick you, and how the looks of food can turn you away.
38
8
"Anger"
August 11, 2014 (2014-08-11)
Find out what happens in your brain that causes you to get angry.
39
9
"Patterns"
August 18, 2014 (2014-08-18)
Find out how many patterns are in the world, and the pros and cons of patterns.
40
10
"Intuition"
August 25, 2014 (2014-08-25)
What happens when you make "on-the-fly" decisions in life? That's the key of intuition.
41
11
"Mind vs. Body"
September 5, 2014 (2014-09-05)
42
12
"Brain Trust"
September 5, 2014 (2014-09-05)
Season 5 (2015)
Shocking fails, moments, and confusion show how the brain can be easily deterred from its goal. The show abandons the studio in favor of more real-life application.
Who are you most likely to help? The Trolley problem is explored. Are we inherently good or evil? Explore how your brain makes countless moral decisions every day.
What is actually true and what's just a misconception? How much of what we think we know is actually true? Let's have the brain be the proof on Brain Games.
Episodes are now one hour. The show is told from a real-world perspective with Jason Silva outside in the world with real people. Small games the audience can play along with are shown as well.
No. overall
No. in season
Title
Original release date
61
1
"Meet The Brain"
February 14, 2016 (2016-02-14)
Take a tour and see how the city of London is just like your brain in a series of games.
62
2
"The God Brain"
February 21, 2016 (2016-02-21)
Jason travels to Jerusalem to see how the belief in God may be implanted into our brains.
The episode discusses about how human can be easily deceived by fake news and false remarks. Playing in the episode is actor Ted Danson. Lior Suchard makes appearance as the show's master mentalist. Also featured are professional poker players Liv Boeree, Wayne Chiang, Igor Kurganov, and Alec Torelli. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker also appear.
70
3
"Drew Brees: Performance"
January 27, 2020 (2020-01-27)
The episode discusses about how mind can actually improves the human's performance. Playing in the episode is Super Bowl winner Drew Brees. Lior Suchard makes appearance as the show's master mentalist. Also featured is neurologist Cara Santa Maria who plays in a game. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker also appear.
71
4
"Kids vs. Adults"
February 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
On-screen father-daughter of Black-ish, Anthony Anderson and Marsai Martin, are battling to prove whether kids' or adults' brain are the most reliable. Lior Suchard makes appearance as the show's master mentalist.
The episode discusses about how a businessman's brain might differ from others'. Playing in the episode is entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Lior Suchard makes appearance as the show's master mentalist. Grandmaster of Memory Nelson Dellis and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin each made an appearance in one game. Actors Tim Allen and Tom Hanks explained the theories in videos. Simon Says professional caller Steve Max conducted a game involving Key, Cuban, and some of the audiences.
74
7
"Rebel Wilson: Love and Attraction"
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)
The show explores the subconscious' power when it comes to falling in love. Playing in the episode is Australian actress Rebel Wilson. Lior Suchard makes appearance as the show's master mentalist. Kevin Hart, Bunsen Honeydew, and Beaker also appear.
75
8
"Tiffany Haddish: Movie Magic"
March 2, 2020 (2020-03-02)
The shows explores how movie effects affect viewers' perception. Playing in the episode is actress Tiffany Haddish. Lior Suchard makes appearance as the show's master mentalist. Jordan Peele makes a cameo appearance, while Thomas Middleditch appears in a game's video. Cara Santa Maria meets with Foley artist Dan O'Connell and the video recording of this meeting is played during the show.
Season 9: On the Road (2022)
The show is now a competition and takes place outside. Teams of 4 compete in challenges. This show is separate from the seasons before it and is a spin-off series.