Students explore the brain with NIH scientists

Middle school students from the Washington, D.C., area will become brain scientists for a day when they visit the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland, on March 16 and 17, 2016. Scientists from the National Institutes of Health will be at the museum to lead students through hands-on activities that explore the structure and function of the brain, and how alcohol and drugs can affect brain health.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for young people to interact with NIH scientists...”

—George F. Koob, Ph.D., Director, NIAAA

The NIH activities are part of the museum’s celebration of Brain Awareness Week (March 14-18), an annual global public outreach partnership of government agencies, universities, hospitals, patient advocacy groups, scientific societies, service organizations, and schools. The event was started nearly two decades ago by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, a nonprofit organization of over 300 leading neuroscientists, as a campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for young people to interact with NIH scientists and gain a better understanding of how the human brain develops and how it functions, and how to keep their own brains healthy,” said George F. Koob, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). "It's also a great way for students to appreciate neuroscience as a potential career goal."

NIH activities will include

National Institute on Aging (NIA): The Mysteries of the Brain
Students explore how we learn about human brains and discover how former “couch potato” mice benefit from healthy diets, exercise and mental stimulation.
National Eye Institute ( NEI): More than Meets the Eye
Students will learn how the brain and eyes work together during visual processing. Presenters will reveal how these complicated processes may at times cause optical illusions and affect perception.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): Brain Lobe-oratorium
This interactive exhibit will teach students about the four lobes of the human brain, including how each lobe contributes to perception, thinking, personality and behavior. Students will also have the opportunity to observe, and if they desire, to touch and hold a real human brain.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA): Cool Spot Carnival
Students will learn how alcohol interferes with adolescent brain development, as well as sensory perception, movement and balance. Students will then have the opportunity to try their hand scoring in a football-toss game while wearing “fatal vision goggles” to simulate being under the influence of alcohol. They will learn that even though adolescents may not feel alcohol’s effects as immediately as older individuals do, they are being affected and must be alert to the dangers of alcohol for their age group.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): The Drunken Brain
Students will step inside NICHD’s novel, multi-sensory exhibit and see the amazing “Drunken Brain,” pulsating with electricity and basking in a world of colored lights and eerie sounds. They will learn about some of the unique effects of alcohol on the brain, and how alcohol exposure during pregnancy and adolescence can lead to possible brain damage and alcohol addiction later in life.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): See YOUR BRAIN in Action
Students will see how the brain and spinal cord work together to control emotions and physical well-being. They will observe the recordings of the electrical activity generated by muscles in their arms and fingers and gain a deeper understanding of the extent of the human nervous system.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA Brain Derby
Students will play an interactive game called “Brain Derby.” They will be divided into two teams, each of which will have the opportunity to answer questions related to how abused drugs act in the brain and body. The winners will receive a “Brain Scientist” certificate.

Media representatives are invited to cover Brain Awareness Week activities at the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM). Advance notice is required. Contact Tim Clarke, NMHM Deputy Director for Communications, at 301-319-3349. For more information about the museum, visit http://www.medicalmuseum.mil(link is external).

About the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA): The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, is the primary U.S. agency for conducting and supporting research on the causes, consequences, prevention, and treatment of alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and alcohol problems. NIAAA funds the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) to determine the effects of problematic alcohol use on the developing adolescent brain and examine brain characteristics that predict alcohol use disorder. NIAAA also disseminates research findings to general, professional, and academic audiences. Additional alcohol research information and publications are available atwww.niaaa.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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