Brain Awareness Week 2024 #UoBBAW

Monday 11 March - Sunday 17 March 2024 marks Brain Awareness Week. This year, our researchers will be present at both the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) and The Exchange, Centenary Square on Saturday 16 March 2024, 10:00am - 4:00pm. During these sessions, our volunteers will engage with the public through a variety of 'brainy' activities, crafts and conversation that showcase the Centre's ground-breaking research. This is a free event, open to all ages: take a look below to find out more on what will be on offer. 

Saturday 16 March 2024: The MAC - Activities Programme

Volunteer your brain and earn cash, vouchers or freebies! (11:00-16:00)

Led by researchers from the University of Birmingham's Centre for Human Brain Health.

Ever wondered what your brain looks like on an MRI scan? Want to help us solve the mysteries of the brain? Chat to our friendly researchers about the types of brain studies that take place at the Centre for Human Brain Health and perhaps even sign-up to participate in some! Your participation in our studies will not only advance the fields of psychology and neuroscience, but also provide you with a unique and hands-on learning experience. The best part? You may even be eligible to earn cash, vouchers and freebies simply by volunteering your time ...and your brain!

If you're already eager to sign-up and can't wait until our event for Brain Awareness Week, you can find out more and sign-up here!

Medical neuroscience: Neurodegeneration, brain trauma, tumours and trials (11:00-16:00)

Led by Dr Daniel Fulton, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing

Unlock the secrets of medical neuroscience with neuroscientists, neurosurgeons, clinicians, clinical trialists, and allied health professionals from the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trusts.

Our experts will be available to answer your questions on brain injury and disease, and offer insights into neuroscience research, neurosurgery, brain-related medicines and trials. A range of hands on activities will help you discover how brain fluid protects your brain, why the brain is divided into grey and white matter, how neurones and other brain cells connect together to form circuits, and how different areas of your brain serve different functions. In addition, students from the Medical School will be on hand to help school children learn about the STEM-related degree courses available at the University of Birmingham.

 
Looking into the brain of a fly (11:00-16:00)

Led by Professor Alicia Hidalgo, School of Biosciences

 Come and discover with us the amazing brain of the fruit-fly Drosophila and why and how it is pushing research boundaries. We are scientists from the University of Birmingham using the fruit-fly to understand how the brain is formed, how it changes throughout life, how it works, how it enables us to make our daily life decisions, as well as what happens in brain disease and how we can learn to promote regeneration and repair. There will be displays demonstrating how we use fruit-fly genetics to address those questions, investigate cell biology and neural circuits in the brain. We'll show how fruit-flies enable us to link genes, neural circuits, brain health, disease and behaviour. We will show you a large fly and fly brain that will open your eyes to genetics and how the brain is built. We will teach you how to make your own fly brain! Come to talk to scientists and ask any questions you may be curious about!

Saturday 16 March 2024: The Exchange - Activities Programme

Brain-Boosting Crafts for Kids! (11:00-15:00)

Led by researchers from the University of Birmingham's Centre for Human Brain Health 

From creating clay 3D models of the brain to decorating brain hats, there will be a variety of brain-related crafts on offer that kids can enjoy while learning about the different parts and functions of the brain. These activities not only stimulate their imagination and creativity, but also foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills. 

‘Brainiversity Challenge’ (11:00-15:00)

Led by Dr Ruth Pauli (CHBH Postdoctoral Researcher) and researchers from the University of Birmingham's Centre for Human Brain Health

Brainiversity Challenge is a set of games and activities with a brain-theme, i.e., each activity will be linked to a particular part of the brain or a famous idea/method from psychology/neuroscience research. This will include:

• Animal Brain Matching Game  (Match the animal to its brain)
• ‘Guess the Fruit’ from the MRI scan image (Guess which fruit or vegetable has had an MRI scan?)
• ‘True or False?’ Brain Facts Challenge
• Guesstimate Challenge
• Logic puzzles, riddles, games, and optical illusions
  
  

Rubber Hand Illusion (11:00-15:00)

Led by researchers from the University of Birmingham's Centre for Human Brain Health 

Volunteer your hand to one of our researchers and experience the magic of the mind with the rubber hand illusion! This fascinating experiment will show you how your brain can be easily fooled and how our senses work together to create our perception of reality.

Blending artificial neural networks and the brain (11:00-15:00)

Led by Jianbo Jiao and researchers from the University of Birmingham's Centre for Human Brain Health and School of Computer Science.

Understanding how the human brain works is a huge challenge. Inspired by human neural networks, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have the potential to help us understand the human brain. Likewise, experiments into the human brain data can inspire new developments in artificial intelligence. This field of research has the potential to improve our understanding of how the human brain processes visual information and the ongoing debate about what distinguishes the human brain from AI. 

Volunteer your brain and earn cash, vouchers or freebies!

Led by researchers from the University of Birmingham's Centre for Human Brain Health.

Ever wondered what your brain looks like on an MRI scan? Want to help us solve the mysteries of the brain? Chat to our friendly researchers about the types of brain studies that take place at the Centre for Human Brain Health and perhaps even sign-up to participate in some! Your participation in our studies will not only advance the fields of psychology and neuroscience, but also provide you with a unique and hands-on learning experience. The best part? You may even be eligible to earn cash, vouchers and freebies simply by volunteering your time ...and your brain!

If you're already eager to register your interest, you can find out more and sign-up here.