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cover of episode Severance’s Consulting Neurosurgeon Explains the Science behind the Show’s Brain Procedure

Severance’s Consulting Neurosurgeon Explains the Science behind the Show’s Brain Procedure

2025/3/21
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Science Quickly
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Explore the intriguing concept of 'Severance' where professional and personal identities are separated through a brain implant, as depicted in the Apple TV+ show.
  • 'Severance' is a show that explores separating work and personal identities using a brain implant.
  • The procedure is a central theme in the show and involves implanting a microchip in the brain.
  • A real-life neurosurgeon, Vijay Agarwal, consulted to make the show's science believable.

Shownotes Transcript

What if you could completely separate your work and personal life—with the help of a brain implant? That’s the unsettling premise of Severance), the hit Apple TV+ show that just wrapped its second season. To make the science fiction feel as real as possible, the creators brought in an actual neurosurgeon, Vijay Agarwal), chief of the Skull-Base Tumor Center at Montefiore Einstein, as a consultant for the show. Host Rachel Feltman met with Agarwal to break down the real neuroscience behind Severance—and whether a procedure like the one it depicts could ever exist.

Mild spoilers ahead! We recommend you at least watch through episode seven of season two before you listen.

Recommended reading:

The Neuroscience of *Severance: *What’s Real? What’s Fake? )

What Severance Life Would Really Be Like, according to a Psychologist )

Email us at [email protected]) if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!

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Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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