Month of events set for Brain Awareness
Human brains will be on display during the 12th annual “Brain Blast” on Saturday, March 6, an exciting day of hands-on activities led by Vanderbilt University neuroscientists at Nashville's Adventure Science Center.
The Vanderbilt Brain Institute sponsors Brain Awareness Month each year in March, featuring a series of public events to promote the importance of supporting brain research.
Here is a list of events:
• Wednesday, March 3 — “This is Your Brain on Stress: The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex,” lecture by Steven Maier, Ph.D., distinguished professor of Psychology and director of the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder, 4:10 p.m., 1220 MRB III.
• Saturday, March 6 — Brain Blast! Fun for the Whole Family, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Adventure Science Center, 800 Fort Negley Blvd. Brain Blast is free and open to the public, but there is a fee to visit other areas of the museum.
• Wednesday, March 10 — “Wired to Speak, Re-wired to Read: Looking into the Brain for Insights into Education,” lecture by Bruce McCandliss, Ph.D., Patricia and Rodes Hart professor of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m., at the Adventure Science Center. A reception will follow the lecture.
• Thursday, March 11 — “The Neuroscience of Fear and Anxiety: New Approaches from Mice to Men,” Psychiatry Grand Rounds by Kerry Ressler, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine, 8 a.m., 898 PRB.
• Wednesday, March 31 — “Change the Matters? Gene Regulation in Autism Spectrum Disorders,” lecture by Lisa Monteggia, Ph.D., associate professor of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, 4:10 p.m., 1220 MRB III.
For more information, visit the Brain Institute's Web site at http://braininstitute.vanderbilt.edu, or contact Steve Edminster at steven.j.edmin-ster@vanderbilt.edu or 322-3532.