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Brain Awarness Week
March 12-18, 2007
Put your thinking caps on and get mentally prepared
to discover the amazing world inside your head!
As part of the national celebration of Brain
Awareness Week, the Central Pennsylvania Chapter
of the Society for Neuroscience and Whitaker
Center are offering a heady menu of activities,
including films, lectures, exhibitions and hands-on
programs. The intriguing and fun special events
will be dedicated to conveying the wonders of
the brain and the far-reaching influences and
outcomes of neuroscience research to families,
students, educators and associations.
Special
Lecture
The Incredible Plastic Brain
Fri, March 16
Select Medical IMAX
Theater
Included with film admission
A visually stunning look into the
brains of cyclists competing in the Tour de France.
Following the film Wired to Win (and
at no additional cost), Kent Vrana, Ph.D., chair
of the Medical Center’s Department of Pharmacology,
will give a fascinating lecture on the biology
of athletic performance enhancement.
Tickets are $8.75 adults; $6.75 children; and
$8.00 students and seniors.
Click
here to buy tickets
online
Film/Lecture
Series
March 17-18, 2007
STAGE TWO
Tickets are $5.00
A public film
lecture series will feature award-winning films
and cover topics including autism, cerebral
palsy, dystonia and sleep disorders. Each film
will be followed by a discussion led by experts
from from
the Society for Neuroscience.
Tickets are $5.00/film
The film lecture series includes:
Saturday, March 17
The Nutty Professor II
10am
Professor Sherman Klump is getting married.
But Buddy Love, his Mr. Hyde alter-ego, is back
and trying to make it on his own.
A discussion on the film and research related
to eating disorders will be led by Rebecca Corwin,
Ph.D., associate professor of Clinical Nutrition,
Penn State University, University Park.
My Left Foot
1pm
Christy Brown, an Irishman born with cerebral
palsy, learned to paint and write with his only
controllable limb—his left foot.
A discussion on the film and research related
to treatment of spasticity in cerebral palsy
will be led by Thyagarajan Subramanian, M.D.,
professor of Neurology, Penn State College of
Medicine, Hershey.
Twisted
4 pm
A PBS documentary by Emmy-nominated filmmaker
Laurel Chiten about the neurological disorder
dystonia, which affects 300,000 people in North
America.
A discussion on the film and research related
to dystonia will be led by Thyagarajan Subramanian,
M.D., professor of Neurology, Penn State College
of Medicine, Hershey.
Contact
6pm
The search for life outside our solar system
becomes a personal and spiritual quest for a
young researcher, Ellie Arroway.
A discussion on the film and research related
to parasomnia will be led by Thomas Uhde, M.D.,
chair and professor, Department of Psychiatry,
Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey.
Sunday, March 18
Rain Man
1:30pm
A idealistic, young, wheeler-dealer’s
life is changed forever when he discovers he
has an autistic savant older brother.
A discussion on the film and research related
to autism will be led by Deborah Beidel, Ph.D.,
professor of Psychology, Penn State College
of Medicine, Hershey.
Awakenings
4:30pm
The true story of a doctor who discovers a drug
that awakens catatonic patients who have to
deal with a new life in a new time.
A discussion on the film and research related
to Parkinson’s disease will be led by
Thyagarajan Subramanian, M.D., professor of
Neurology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey.
Mind
Your Brain Activities
Sat, March 17, 2007
Harsco Science Center, 11am to 4pm
Kids and adults alike can discover the amazing
world inside their heads through hands-on activities
and fun demonstrations presented by experts
from Penn State and other local colleges.
Included with science center admission: $8.75
adults; $7.25 children, students and seniors.
Click
here for tickets to
Harsco Science Center
The following activities will take place
inside Harsco Science Center
Neurology
Stick a needle into the neck muscles of “Elvis”
the human dummy to simulate electrical (electromyography)
signals from the muscles and the nerves.
Neuroradiology
See how MRI is used to obtain images and measure
blood flow in the brain to diagnose various
medical conditions.
Neural Engineering
Use only “brain power” to operate
a remote controlled car in this high-tech exhibit.
Pharmacology
Compare and contrast actual brains from various
animals and humans with preserved specimens
on display.
Anatomy of the Brain
Learn about the lobes of the brain by drawing
them on swim caps you can wear with pride.
Visual Perception
Your eyes will fool you as optical illusions
will be used to help you understand how your
visual system works.
Psychology
Your mind can play tricks on you too. A hallucination
exhibit will demonstrate how.
Behavioral Testing
See how scientists learn about behavior through
behavioral testing with live mice.
Brain Injury Prevention
See what can happen if you don’t wear
a helmet and other safety gear to protect your
brain.
Shaken Baby Program
Information on shaken baby syndrome and fun
activities involving neurons (including edible
neurons made of Jell-o).
The following activities will take place
inside Big Science Theater, Arcade Level, Harsco
Science Center
Study of Sleep
See a demonstration in which a patient is wired
to a machine to measure brain activity while
asleep in order to diagnose sleep disorders.
Video Presentations
See videos illustrating the various regions
of the brain and Bill Nye (the science guy)
talking about the importance of wearing helmets.
Presented by Whitaker Center,
the Central Pennsylvania Society for Neuroscience,
and the Penn State Milton S. Hershey College
of Medicine Department of Neuroscience. Support
provided by The Huck Institute of the Life Sciences
at Penn State University
Wired
to Win: Surviving the Tour de France
Large-Format Film
Select Medical IMAX Theater
Now Showing through March 18
This film shows the link between neurological
reactions and top athletes’ performance.
Following two riders as they attempt to compete
in the grueling three-week-long event, Wired
to Win explores the capabilities of the brain,
integrating IMAX technology, cutting-edge computer
and medical imagery, and real-life racing drama
to show how the brain responds to stimuli–and
adapts for success as we learn, train, and practice.
The Tour provides a dramatic example of how practice
and repetition can “wire” our brains
to excel at complex, demanding tasks.
Click
here for film schedule
Click
here to buy tickets online Special
Engagement Presentation of Wired to Win
made possible by a grant from Ortho-McNeil.
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