2007 Brain Awareness Week

March 14-17, 2007
This year’s BAW activities were organized by the neuroscience graduate studies program (NGSP) graduate students under the direction of Dr. Randy Nelson. The four day long event was held at Center of Science and Industry (COSI).  The exhibit consisted of several stations which included:

1. Brain zoo station where kids were asked to match the brain specimens to the right animal. Specimens included frog, chicken, fish, rodent, cat and primate brains.  The human brain specimens generated a lot of interest from both kids and adults.
2. A visual attention task where subjects are asked to count a certain event occurring on the computer screen and later asked if they could identify an unusual occurrence. Kids received free brain pencils and brain erasers.
3. Hands-on cerebellar learning task where kids/adults were asked to wear vision shifting goggles and have a bulls-eye target practice. It took some time for the people hit the target correctly. This task was a super-hit among kids.
4. A plastic brain model which could be taken apart and reassembled. This was challenging for the older kids and they enjoyed it a lot.

Posters displaying brain facts decorated the walls. Overall the event was a success and each day we drew a crowd of at least fifty people. The brain model, specimens and vision shifting goggles were generously provided by Dr. Georgia Bishop and funds from NEURO were used buy giveaways for the kids at the event.

2005 Brain Awareness Week

March 14-20, 2005
Our Chapter’s Brain Awareness Week Activities were organized by Dr. Randy Nelson and the Neuroscience Education: Urban and Rural Outreach (NEURO) Program. The event was funded by the Central Ohio Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience and The Ohio State University Departments of Neuroscience and Psychology.

The program for the week of March 14-20th included public lectures on the topic of Alzheimer’s disease given by Dr. Jeff Kuret and spinal cord injury given by Dr. Lyn B. Jakeman, both from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. In addition, a four day long exhibit was held at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio. The exhibit, which was displayed in the LIFE Exhibition room, included:

• a brain zoo housing brains of several species of mammals ranging in complexity from mice to humans
• a neuroanatomy station covering basic human brain anatomy using a brain model and cross-sectional pictures, and
• a hands-on activity center which demonstrated plasticity in the brain.

Participants in the latter attempted to hit a target with a beanbag while wearing goggles that diffracted the field of view 15 degrees. At first, the participant threw off target, but over a period of several minutes, he/she was accurately hitting the target. When the goggles were removed, the participant overcompensated and threw off target in the opposite direction illustrating the plasticity involved in cerebellar learning. Over 1,000 schoolchildren, teachers, and parents viewed this exhibit throughout the course of Brain Awareness Week. Brain erasers and pencils were handed out courtesy of the NEURO program.