Episode Details

00:07 | Introduction: Can We Manipulate Human Emotions?

Uploaded 23-06-26

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18:22 | Psychoactive Drugs: MDMA, Ecstasy and Risk
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25:58 | Rabies: A Virus That Lowers Serotonin
27:47 | Toxoplasma Gondii: The Parasite in 1 in 3 of Us
31:09 | Brain-Computer Interfaces and Neuralink
34:52 | The Easiest Mood Hack: Your Diet
36:01 | The Gut-Brain Axis and the Human Microbiome
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Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/PWoDmVOSTTA

We think of emotions as being central to our characters and our sense of self. But emotions are the product of brain chemistry and, like most biological processes, are malleable. Thus far, our ability to artificially manipulate emotions has been extremely rudimentary, but we are on the cusp of a revolution in neuroscience that will open the door to powerful emotional manipulation. How can we navigate the ethical minefield that this will uncover, and what will it mean for our understanding of who we really are?

This lecture was recorded by Robin May on the 20th of May 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London

Professor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, and (interim) Chief Scientist at the UK Health Security Agency, Robin May was appointed Gresham Professor of Physic in May 2022. Between July 2020 and September 2025 he served as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Professor May’s early training was in Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford, followed by a PhD on mammalian cell biology at University College London and the University of Birmingham. After postdoctoral research on gene silencing at the Hubrecht Laboratory, The Netherlands, he returned to the UK in 2005 to establish a research program on human infectious diseases. He was Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham from 2017-2020.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/peoples-emotions

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