The award-winning show "Your Fantastic Mind," produced by Emory Brain Health in partnership with Georgia Public Broadcasting, first aired on PBS in 2019. A recipient of 11 Emmy’s to date, this nationally syndicated series highlights patient stories and reports on pioneering research and clinical advances in the field of brain science.
In an interview with Jaye Watson, show creator, producer and host, she gives us a look into season six and discusses some of her favorite show moments over the years.
What are you most excited for people to see in season six? Any stories that stand out?
The show is 50% deep brain science and 50% storytelling, showcasing both the research and human experience. So, no matter what topic we’re focusing on while we interview scientists, researchers or physicians, the heart of the story is always a person living through that issue. We visit their homes or workplaces to see how they really live and function in their daily lives. This gives viewers an authentic glimpse into the life of the patient.
One episode I love this season is episode four, which is entirely about Alzheimer's and artificial intelligence (AI). What blew me away with this episode was seeing Drew Breithaupt, a cognitive neurologist at Emory, using an AI chat bot. As the bot interviewed him, he explained to me these conversational agents, as they call them, are so sophisticated that just from interviewing someone on the phone, they are able to detect if there's cognitive decline and then can triage the person immediately and move them on to the next set of cognitive tests. With AI, this can happen very quickly, rather than a patient waiting 14 months to see a cognitive neurologist.
Dr. Breithaupt’s hope is that clinicians are going to be able to use conversational agents and AI to unblock the path to diagnosis. Now that there is a therapeutic option to slow down the advancement of Alzheimer’s, it’s more important than ever to diagnose as early as possible so patients can take advantage of the medication.
What do you hope people take away after watching the show? What do you want the viewer to feel?
I think we have some stories that are very emotional. One that stands out this season is Emory psychiatrist Doug Bremner’s work treating patients with opioid use disorder using vagus nerve stimulation – a very hot area in research right now. The man in our story who’s a clinical trial participant is weeping in his hospital bed during his interview. He’s telling us that he was willing to share his story because it’s worth it if he can help just one person. That kind of raw emotion is powerful — it makes the story stick with you. I hope viewers walk away not only learning something new about the science, but also feeling connected to the people behind the research. It’s those emotional moments that make the science memorable and meaningful.
Jaye Watson, show creator and host
We also want to make complex scientific discoveries clearer and more engaging for a general audience. The researchers and clinicians featured in each episode, often unknown to the public, work tirelessly to improve lives, and the show is a way to celebrate their work. We’re also deeply grateful to the patients facing serious neurodegenerative diseases or experiencing hardships trying to recover from a stroke who allow us to share their stories for the greater good of educating others. It’s incredibly rewarding, and when I think about our viewers, I hope they come away with a deeper appreciation for the important role science plays in improving lives. We also try to leave them with practical takeaways – ways they can take control of their brain health and, in some cases, take steps to address neurodegenerative disease early.
Looking back, how do you feel like this season is different from past seasons?
In the beginning of the show, a lot of our stories were about helping people understand the basics and covering stories more broadly, which was important. But now, we’re diving deeper into research innovation, which is really where the show shines. The coolest part of my job is getting to learn about groundbreaking science and then taking people behind the curtains and sharing it in a way they can connect with it. If we can teach viewers something new that could truly help them, then we’ve done what we set out to do.
Throughout six years of doing this show, what is one story that just really stands out from all the rest?
That's actually easy! In season two, we took the show on the road to Rush University in Chicago, where Emory is a collaborator on the Religious Orders Study – a 25-year study of priests and nuns who agreed to participate in Alzheimer’s research throughout their lives and then donate their brains to science after death.
After filming with Allan Levey and David Bennett at Rush, we traveled outside of Chicago to spend time with cloistered Benedictine nuns who were all enrolled in the study. We were able to get to know the sisters and the one priest in the study fairly well and they were such fun, warm people. The oldest was 95, and even though many used walkers and wheelchairs, they still worked for the good of their religious order. They set the tables for lunch. They cleaned up. They delivered mail. They were still helping others.
What moved me most was these women, who had already devoted their lives to God, were also choosing to give their brains to research to help others. That was the heart of the story – the humanity. Then, from the scientific side, it was equally fascinating. We were able to see brain specimens from the study in a lab that showed clear pathology consistent for Alzheimer’s, yet the individuals had never exhibited any signs or symptoms of the disease while they were alive. It was just fascinating. That research was among the first to highlight how important lifestyle factors can be in preventing cognitive decline.
In the coming years, what are your hopes and goals for the show?
My biggest hope is to keep growing the show’s reach and impact — especially by taking it to even more places around the country. We’ve already told powerful stories here in Georgia at Emory, Georgia Tech, the CDC and UGA, and have featured work from institutions like Rush, Johns Hopkins, UC San Diego and even NASA. But there's so much important research happening across the U.S., and I’d love to expand our national perspective by visiting more institutions doing innovative work.
We are already streaming on PBS and working to expand our engagement online and through social. There's a lot of opportunity to grow in that space, and we’re excited to explore new ways to connect with audiences more meaningfully. It would also be a dream to share the show on a major streaming platform — Netflix is the big dream, of course — but even other services with massive audiences could help us reach more people. The more eyes we get on these stories, the more lives we can potentially impact. That’s what makes it all worth it.
Do you have research or story you think would be great for the show? Submit ideas to yourfantasticmind@emory.edu.