Brain Awareness Week in La Plata: ?The Electric Brain?

MARTÍNEZ DAMONTE V; DE FRANCESCO N; MUSTAFÁ ER; AGOSTI F; LÓPEZ SOTO EJ; RODRÍGUEZ SS; CABRAL A; GARCÍA ROMERO G; FRASA V; PERELLÓ M; RAINGO J

Huerta Grande, Córdoba

Congreso; XXIX Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de investigación en Neurociencias "New mechanisms of neuro-glial interaction: their contribution to nervous system development and repair"; 2014

Sociedad Argentina de investigación en Neurociencias

In March 2014 took place the first BAW event in La Plata City, at the Natural Science Museum, organized by members of the Neurophysiology and Electrophysiology Labs of the IMBICE.In the Museum?s new interactive classroom, we arranged a circuit of four stations for the general public plus a central area with activities for younger children. The first station consisted in a dynamic introductive talk about neuroscience and the brain, along with a hands-on demonstration of real brain specimens from different species (cow, rat, mouse and squid). The second station offered the possibility to look at small brains (including those from a frog and a cockroach) and brain pieces with a magnifier, and to watch neurons in brain slices under the microscope. The third station was aimed at showing neurons in action: we recorded the electrical activity from a cockroach leg?s sensitive neurons and stimulated motor neurons with electrical signals from different sources. The last station focused on how fast our neurons work and included interactive talks about the electrical signals in the brain and spinal cord, and performing different measurements of reaction times and reflexes. In the central area children could draw, paint neurons and make brain hats. At times, we also carried out a representation of neurotransmission using a giant neuron model.The exhibit was highly successful, attracting throughout the week over 600 visitors of all ages and background, which provided great feedback.