| brain awareness month Brain function topic of month-long series Vanderbilt's annual series of Brain Awareness events kicks off with a program highlighting how the brain learns and remembers. Dr. Mortimer Mishkin of the National Institute of Mental Health will describe his research on brain regions important to perception and memory in a lecture at Sarratt Cinema on Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. The international Brain Awareness program was established in 1995 by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting public understanding of brain function, and the Society for Neuroscience, an international community of 25,000 brain researchers. The goal of Brain Awareness is to teach the general public about how the brain works and the importance of brain research to understanding, treating, and ultimately curing brain-related diseases.
Brain Awareness Activities Feb. 28 45 p.m., Sarratt Cinema "Memory and the Brain" -- Dr. Mortimer Mishkin and Jon Kaas, Centennial Professor of Psychology,
March 3 10 a.m.1 p.m., Cumberland Science Museum "Brain Blast" -- A variety of brain games, mind games, and hands-on activities led by Vanderbilt neuroscience undergraduates, graduate students and faculty.
March 15 79 p.m., Cumberland Science Museum "Autism: A Search for Genes, A Search for Therapies" -- Dr. Edwin Cook, director of the Laboratory of Developmental Neuroscience at the University of Chicago; Stephen Camarata, acting director of the Kennedy Center and associate professor of hearing and speech; and James Sutcliffe, assistant professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, will discuss the latest genetic research and therapeutic interventions for autism, a developmental disorder of brain function.
March 21 79 p.m., Cumberland Science Museum "Alzheimer's Disease: Advances in Treatment & Diagnosis" -- Alzheimer's Disease, the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, affects an estimated 4 million people in the United States. The program will feature Dr. Virginia Lee, Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Thomas Montine, associate professor of pathology and associate professor of pharmacology at Vanderbilt; and Ariel Deutch, professor of psychiatry, professor of pharmacology, and investigator and senior fellow at the Kennedy Center.
March 29 45 p.m., 241 MRL Building, Kennedy Center "How to Build a Mammalian Brain" -- Dr. Derek Van Der Kooy from the departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Toronto will discuss neural stem cells, master cells for the brain that could potentially be used to treat neurodegenerative and other brain disorders.
For programs at the Cumberland Science Museum, call 401-5101 to reserve seats. For more information, call the Vanderbilt Brain Institute at 936-2637 or visit the Web site http://braininstitute.vanderbilt.edu.
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