It weighs about 1.5 kg, is made up of mostly water, and contains more than 100 billion cells. These facts and many others will be introduced to Montreal students during Brain Awareness Week.

More than 100 neuroscience graduate students from Montreal’s four Universities, the Montreal Neurological Institute and from the Douglas Mental Health University Institute will be participating. They are joining a worldwide initiative, which includes 69 countries, to bring neuroscience to the classroom.

“This is a week-long series of educational activities including lectures, lab tours, classroom visits, and exhibits which demonstrate the importance of basic neuroscience research to the health and well-being of the general public,” adds Marie-France Marin, a Douglas student. “We are fortunate in Montreal as we have one of the largest concentrations of neuroscientists in the world.”

“The goal of this program is to increase public awareness about brain function and new research,” says Julie Andrews, a Douglas doctoral student. “Brain Awareness Week was launched in 1996, by the Society for Neuroscience in collaboration with the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and a coalition of over 1,200 science, advocacy, and other health organizations around the world.”

Montreal activities include

Interactive elementary and high school presentations

• Elementary: Discussion of the five senses
• High school: Discussion of the effects of drugs on the brain
• Media are invited to join the sessions at the schools. To confirm attendance, please contact Elise Barbeau : 514 995-6778

Open Houses

• March 13 : Centre de recherche de l’institut de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM) Discussion of aging : conferences, poster presentations, tours of the labs and experiment demonstrations.
• March 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.: Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI). Opportunity for school children to visit the labs and take part in research experiments including.

Lectures

• March 13th, 7:30 p.m.: Riviere-des-Prairies Hospital . Roger Godbout, MD, will discuss: Adolescent sleep: why this isn’t always restful. Lecture will be in French only.