NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE HOSTS SEVENTH ANNUAL BRAIN “AWARENESS WEEK”   “Wear a helmet to protect your brain when you are riding a bike,” said Kirsten Millard, 14, from Queen Anne School of Upper Marlboro, Md., when asked what she learned at the seventh annual Brain Awareness Week program held at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. 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 Brain Awareness Week. They visited six stations that 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 Washington University, Howard University, Rutgers University, the National Institutes of Health, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Each organization was represented by a neuroscientist or researcher who conducted a station, highlighting an aspect of the brain. The program is designed to link scientists, students, clinicians, journalists and educators together with the goal of bringing information to the public about the brain and brain science. “This is a wonderful program that gives the students an opportunity to meet scientists with a unique perspective, and distinct and beneficial information about the brain,” said the museum’s director, Adrianne Noe, Ph.D. D'ashae Meyers and Mariah Whitley smile and hold "the brain." The event hosted two separate programs, one designed for high school students, which took place March 9 and 20, and the other for middle school students, which ran from March 13-17. The high school program was designed 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 John Allman, Ph.D., who visited from the California Institute of Technology to discuss the role of dopamine as related to social decision-making, and Barry Komisaruk, Ph. D., Rutgers University, whose presentation explored the intricacies of the brain and its parts as students dissected sheep’s brains to gain an even further understanding. The middle-school program lasted for an entire week and hosted 600 middle-school students. Participants rotated through six stations that demonstrated different functions, influences on and disorders of the brain. Each station was hosted by a different educational partner so they changed each day, allowing new insights and activities on the brain. Monday was hosted by Georgetown University and focused on brain injury, cranial nerves, parts of the brain and its functions. At a station by Dr. Ben Walker, called “Who Wants to Be an Brain Surgeon?,” students were given the opportunity to dissect a “Jell-o brain”, finding “tumors” (grapes) and “blood vessels” (darker strands of Jell-o) in the brain’s structure, while learning about the precision required for brain surgery. “The brain tastes really good!” exclaimed Jamaal Robinson, 12, of Potomac Valley, after he sampled a piece of the gelatin brain. Tess Wheeler of Nysmith School tried on the "drunken goggles." Tuesday’s activities were hosted by Howard University and highlighted memory, the senses and brain disease. At the “Alcohol is Bad for Your Brain” station, students were taught that it is important to understand how alcohol affects the brain. They reviewed symptoms of mild, moderate and heavy doses of alcohol, and then were able to try on goggles that simulated each of those stages of intoxication. Here, a student from Shepherd Park Elementary School told the presenter, “So you can have a party with only soda and it is still a lot of fun!” Jacob Sweeny of Holy Trinity Day School finds it hard to "walk the line" while wearing the "drunken goggles. Wednesday and Thursday were hosted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH was represented by the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). These stations were designed to highlight different brain diseases that NIH studies, such as addiction, mental health and stroke. One station, entitled “The Drunken Brain Exhibit,” showed students how alcohol slows down mental functions, by using an oversized model of a brain, complete with flashing lights to show the neurons. Students also watched video of a lab experiment testing the results of alcohol on lab rats. Friday’s activities were presented by the Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) and the Army Audiology and Speech Clinic. Students first learned how sound and hearing works- “Sound is simply vibrations in the air. You can hear the vibrations from anywhere in your body, by using a tuning fork,” said Dr. Jerry Schuchman. He then placed a vibrating tuning fork on the elbows, knees and heads of students allowing them to “hear” the vibrations. Next, students were taught the importance of protecting their hearing, and what levels of sounds are safe to be around. Aaron Young of Shepherd Park elementary school, holds a real brain. 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 hold a real human brain. As they held it, he pointed out the different parts, asking students what each part was responsible for. Catherine Tobin, a teacher at Blessed Sacrament School told presenters, “Our students had nothing but great things to say about your program and were still talking about touching a real brain at the end of the day!” Fobbs also showed the students slides of real brains documenting brain disease and damage. He pointed out a 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,” he explained. Brain Awareness Week is an annual program sponsored by the Dana Foundation for Brain Initiatives. The museum is an element of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), a tri-service Army, Navy, and Air Force agency of the Department of Defense with a threefold mission of consultation, education, and research. 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, NW, 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. Admission and parking are free.