February 20, 2018
Brain Awareness Week: A Time of Stress and Reward
Ariane Balaram
新澳门六合彩开奖结果
Lake Forest, Illinois 60045
Walking into the cafeteria on Monday, November 6th, it was blatantly apparent that this was no ordinary week. Members of Synapse, the college鈥檚 neuroscience organization, had spent an entire evening painting neurons and brains onto the large, ceiling-to-floor windows of the Gus and Margie Hart Dining Hall and their efforts had not gone unnoticed. But as beautiful as it was, there was no surprise here; the artwork only confirmed what numerous flyers across campus had been advertising, which was the beginning of Brain Awareness Week.
Even for a newcomer, 新澳门六合彩开奖结果鈥檚 Brain Awareness Week is hard to miss. There is an inevitable buzz amongst students a few days prior to the commencement of this annual event which puts them on edge and electrifies them, all at once. It is a vibrant time choc-a-block with seminars by experts in their fields, student presentations, research-based poster displays, interactive models, art pieces, faculty talks, and community outreach.
This year鈥檚 Brain Awareness Week was no different. The week ran from November 6 to November 11, opening with a riveting lecture on Bionic Hands by University of Chicago鈥檚 Dr. Sliman Bensmaia and ending on an equally entertaining note, a performance by world-renowned mentalist Sean Bott.
Students of the 200 level biology core class 鈥淕enes, Molecules, and Cells鈥 kicked off day 1 of Brain Awareness Week at 12 PM through a series of 1 hour long public seminars on the latest research of a chosen neurological disease. Monday鈥檚 seminars explored recent scientific publications on Multiple Sclerosis, Rett syndrome, neuropathic pain and the Zika virus. After the seminar session, there was a quick 15 minute break followed by the most popular event of the day: the opening lecture by Dr. Sliman Bensmaia on 鈥淏iological and Bionic Hands鈥. The lecture, sponsored by the Psychology Department鈥檚 honour society Psi Chi, focused on the newest advances in technology surrounding bionic arms and the speaker鈥檚 own research in that area.
Later that same evening, first year students from 鈥淢edical Mysteries of the Mind鈥 conducted outreach in the Mohr Student Center, educating their peers on the fundamentals of memory and emotions amidst the traffic of students going to dinner or making their way to the library. At the same time, on the lower floor of Mohr, Kirsten Riiber and Alex Schwaniger presented 鈥淭angles and Plaques鈥, an interactive theatrical performance aimed at demystifying dementia.
Tuesday hosted the most well attended lecture in the entirety of Brain Awareness Week: the Keynote Lecture. This year鈥檚 Keynote Lecture was delivered by Dr. James Mastrianni, Director of the Center of Comprehensive Care and Research on Memory Disorders at the University of Chicago. In his talk, titled 鈥淢ad Cows, Cannibals, and Insomniacs: The Deadly Consequences of Prion Shapes鈥, Dr. Mastrianni spoke about the discovery of prion diseases, the mechanism through which they function, and his specific research on the subject.
The day ended with brain outreach on language and thought by first year students and poster presentations on the mechanisms underlying post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, epilepsy and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease by students in the 300 level course, 鈥淭he Malleable Brain鈥.
Wednesday marked the last day of central lectures held by outside speakers. Wednesday鈥檚 lecture by world famous playwright Lydia Diamond was titled 鈥淏rain, Race, and Theatre鈥. It was based on Diamond鈥檚 newest play 鈥淪mart People鈥, which explores how the brain deals with issues of race and identity.
Following the lecture, first year students continued their outreach in the student centre, educating their peers this time on the topics of sex, sexuality, and sleep. The evening was capped off with the 200 level course Philosophy of the Mind鈥檚 students presenting on various overlapping neurological and philosophical concepts including 鈥淎ction and Illusion鈥, 鈥淭he Brain as the Baynesian Machine鈥 and 鈥淭he Homonculus in the Brain鈥.
From there, Brain Awareness Week began winding down. The last set of Frontiers in Neurology presentations took place at noon on Friday and covered cutting-edge research on Traumatic Brain Injury, Autism, Parkinson鈥檚 Disease, and Epilepsy. The evening ended on a relaxing note with Synapse鈥檚 showing of 鈥極ne Flew over the Cuckoo鈥檚 Nest鈥. As a special treat on Saturday, Synapse organized a show by mentalist Sean Bott. With that, the week officially culminated. Overwhelming as it is, Brain Awareness Week is always missed once it is gone. As the campus breathes a collective sigh of relief, there are always one or two early mourners who already miss the thrill of it all.