Every year in March, students, faculty and staff involved in neuroscience related education, research and clinical care come together to increase public awareness of brain research around the globe. This year in Salt Lake City, University of Utah graduate student Jeff Yarch coordinated Brain Awareness Week events down at The Leonardo. My contribution was volunteering to run down and photograph one of the events.
A human brain preserved in formalin. This one is getting a little beat up over the years as I seem to remember this very brain back when I took neuroanatomy as a graduate student. At least there are features that I got to know very well after hours of looking at this brain.
Amanda Berbert, a 2nd year medical student up at the University of Utah along with Gary Hedlund, a neuroradiologist up at Primary Children’s Hospital show kids different brains.
There were brain slices, spinal cords and even pathological brains including brains from people who suffered massive strokes.
A local grade school student handles a brain and listens to Amanda and Gary tell her about neuroanatomy. Its a pretty powerful thing for a kid to be able to hold a real human brain and really brings home how cool neuroscience is.
The human brain from the top image showing the dura matter covering of the brain being reflected back.
Angela Wang and Jeff Yarch demo transducers called Spikerboxes that designed to stimulate neurons from insects and reveal the sound of neurons spiking in response to a stimulus. Pretty cool stuff.
Jaycie Loewen in Karen Wilcox’s laboratory demonstrates goggles designed to simulate intoxication and other neural deficits.
Paula Fiet from the Educational Psych program at the University of Utah shows optical illusions to local gradeschool students.
Judd Cahoon, a student in Bala Ambati’s lab at the Moran Eye Center demonstrates models of human brains and individual neurons.
Kyle Hansen in Robert Hitchcock’s lab makes craft, pipecleaner neurons to show the dendritic and axonal components.
