Museum hosts Sixth Annual Brain Awareness Week   Alex Moyer of Parkland Middle School tries to balance on a round pad filled with air with Dr. Gerald Schuchman of Defense Veteran’s Brain Injury Center. More than 800 middle- and high-school students from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. were invited to learn about the brain and participate in hands-on activities with neuroscientists at the sixth annual Brain Awareness Week at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, held March 14-18, 2005. Six stations were designed and operated by collaborating institutions called Partners-In-Education. This year’s Partners-In-Education included the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, Georgetown University, George Mason University, Howard University, the National Institutes of Health, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Each of these organizations was represented by a neuroscientist who conducted a particular station, highlighting an aspect of the brain and brain science. The program links scientists, students, clinicians, journalists and educators together with the goal of bringing information to the public about the brain and brain science. “It gives the students an opportunity to meet scientists with a unique perspective and with distinct and credible information about the brain” said Adrianne Noe, Ph.D., director of the museum. The event hosted two separate programs, one for high school students, which took place on March 10 and 11, and the other for middle school students, which ran from March 14-18. Students from Langley High School in Langley, Va., dissect sheep’s brain under a projection screen as Dr. Barry Komisaruk tells them what they are seeing. The high school program was designed by the museum to give students more advanced knowledge of the brain, as discovered through current research projects at universities and to highlight current brain issues that are relevant to adolescents. This program featured Barry Komisaruk, Ph. D., Rutgers University, whose presentation explored the intricacies of the brain as students were able to dissect sheep’s brains. Dr. Komisaruk explains, “I first came to the museum when I was ten years old. I like to pass on what I have enjoyed here to other kids. It is a wonderful practice of the museum to give young, bright students an opportunity to see exhibits and learn about the brain.” The program also featured Dr. Carolyn Trippitelli, a psychiatrist that presented a session on “Adolescent Mental Health”, John Allman, Ph.D., who visited from the California Institute of Technology to discuss the role of dopamine as related to social decision-making. Archie Fobbs, curator of Neuroanatomical Collections at the museum, points out sections of the brain for students. The middle-school program lasted for a week and hosted different schools and educational partners each day. Participants rotated through six stations that demonstrated different functions, influences on and disorders of the brain. Each station allowed new insights and information on the brain. At the “Put On Your Thinking Cap” station, students had the chance to see brain activity, in action. Dr. Barbara Given of the Krasnow Institute wore a cap with wires connected to a computer program that monitored her brain activity as she performed functions such as resting, talking, standing and catching a ball. The “thinking cap” is used to test reading skills in elementary school students. Dr. Given explained, “When I was a little girl, I couldn’t read very well. It took me a very long time to finish a book. But what we have found through research is that anyone can learn to read very well. It is a problem that can be solved by practice, practice, practice.” Students from Sidwell Friends School, in Washington, DC, probe a gelatin brain for “tumors” (grapes) and “infection” (darker strands of gelatin). Ben Walker, Ph.D., of Georgetown University hosted a station called “Who Wants to Be an Brain Surgeon?,” where the students were given the opportunity to probe and dissect a model of a brain made of Jell-o. As they probed the model they found “tumors” (grapes) and “infection” (darker strands of Jell-o) in the brain’s structure. Dr. Walked explained “the dark areas of infection are what your brain would look like if you fell off your bike or skateboard and hit your head. A helmet would protect your brain from damage like this.” Joel Peterson of Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Va., tries to find his friend, Anna Draganova while wearing “Drunken Brain” goggles. A station called “Welcome to Roger’s Party” allowed participants to see various effects that alcohol can have on the on the brain. Participants were given distortion goggles that altered their vision and made it almost impossible to walk in a straight line. The alcohol education continued at the “Drunken Brain” exhibit, hosted by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. This exhibit featured a large model of a brain covered in flashing lights. Dr. Dennis Twombly, program director at NIAAA, showed students what happened when alcohol was added to the brain. He explained “at first you will see the lights speed up as the brain is stimulated, but then they slow way down. Brain activity is less because the neurons are inhibited by the alcohol.” Camille Bough, Melissa Morgan, and Emily Sahadeo of Concordia Lutheran School, of Washington, DC, get their chance to hold a brain as teacher Edith Damron looks on. The museum hosted a station every day of the program called “The Brain Collector” where museum curator Archie Fobbs handed out latex gloves to participants so they could handle sheep, horse, and human brains. He also showed the students slides of real brains documenting brain disease and damage. He continued to stress the importance of wearing a helmet when he showed a cross-sectioned slide of a brain that had been “…squished by a fire hydrant. This person fell off a bike and hit their head on a fire hydrant. That is why you should always wear your helmet when you are on your bike and your seatbelt when you are in the car,” explained Fobbs. The museum is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The museum is located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Ave. and Elder Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. Docent led tours are offered to walk-in visitors at 1 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturday of each month. More information can be found at the website- www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum and the telephone number is 202-782-2200. Admission and parking are free.