An egg, some toothpicks, and a few candies are all that is needed to illustrate how the brain works in the new educational program created by Douglas researcher Sonia Lupien, PhD and her team at the Centre for Studies on Human Stress. Their program, My Amazing Brain, was developed to help teachers and parents teach young students about the wonders of the brain. They have recently taken their curriculum to Montreal schools and received resounding praise.

“Outreach is part of a researcher’s responsibility - sharing their knowledge and publicizing their work – and I take this very seriously,” says Lupien, director of the Center for Studies on Human Stress and McGill professor of Psychiatry. “I enjoy interacting with children and putting this curriculum together was very rewarding. I am hopeful that after participating in this the children will understand normal brain functioning. This then sets the stage to discuss more complicated issues such as stress, and mental illness.”

My Amazing Brain is a hands-on interactive program that follows in the footsteps of Eric Chudler’s, PhD, Neuroscience for Kids. Children between the ages of 7 and 10 embark on a journey into the brain and discover how it works through a series of fun experiments and activities. This program also serves as an introduction to the Centre for Studies on Human Stress stress-education programs designed for teenagers.

“So far we’ve started to implement this curriculum in five Montreal schools with great success,” says Lupien. “In addition well over 50 individuals including, mothers, social workers, teachers, and school nurses have registered for the free training course to prepare them to present the program to children in their surroundings. This reflects a clear thirst for knowledge, particularly about the brain.” Lessons plans and other training tools are available at www.douglas.qc.ca/stress.

“Understanding your brain is essential when facing psychological issues such as anxiety and stress. Education is key to treatment and therapy success. Educating children is a first step to informing society as a whole.”