Grads head back to grade school for Brain Awareness Week

Over 100 neuroscience graduate students are getting ready to show real brains to more than 9000 elementary and high schools students in and around Montreal, as part of Brain Awareness Week (March 14-20, 2005). Through fun and interactive demonstrations, this initiative aims at educating young people about brain functions and hopefully, sparking their interest for neurosciences.
The target audience, from both French and English schools, will get a chance to see, feel, and poke a brain. Elementary students will learn about the five senses and high school students will attend presentations with a special focus on the effects of substance abuse, such as ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol.
The Montreal Brain Awareness Week campaign began in 1998 as the brainchild of a small group of graduate neuroscience students working at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre. In that first year they visited 20 schools and have since increased their visits to 155 this year. The organizing committee has expanded to include graduate neuroscience, psychology and medical students from McGill University, Université de Montréal, UQAM and Concordia University.

Free Public Lectures: Nobel Laureate David H. Hubel to Present
Furthermore, Brain Awareness Week will host three free public lectures given by prominent Montreal researchers who study different aspects of the brain. This year, we are also proud to welcome the 1981 Medical Nobel Laureate David H. Hubel from the Harvard Medical School.