Brain Awareness Event set for March 23

Faculty and students from the University of North Georgia (UNG) will host a Brain Awareness Event for the Dahlonega community from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 23. UNG is collaborating with the Dahlonega Science Council and ConnectAbility to host the third annual event, which is free and open to the public and will be held at the Community Center at 365 Riley Road.  

Dr. Amy Anderson, a biology faculty member, is teaming with psychology faculty members Dr. Abby Meyer and Dr. Wei-Lun Sun, as well as Dr. Kimberly Castle, professor and department head of physical therapy, on the event. Students from their classes have created and will run activities to impart valuable scientific knowledge about the brain to children and adults alike.

"It's important to have role models for our young people. I like for the children to meet my neuroscience students because they don't look like what a child thinks a scientist might look like," Anderson said. "We want them to embrace science and not be afraid of it. We want them to see that anybody can be a scientist." 

The event will be held in celebration of Brain Awareness Week, which happens every March and is a "global campaign to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science." Dr. Meyer and Dr. Anderson each received grants from the Dana Foundation to support this event.

Activities will include informative posters, taste-testing stations, sensation touch boxes, build-a-neuron kits, brain games, testing vision with distortion goggles, optical illusions, and color perception stations. Younger visitors will have brain books to read during story time and coloring and craft stations.  

Theo Holcombe, a fall 2023 graduate from Jefferson, Georgia, with a degree in psychology and a minor in anthropology, helped with a kinetic sand demonstration of brain activity in 2023 and is excited to be a part of the Brain Awareness Event again. 

"It's a good hands-on way for people in the community to learn about science," Holcombe said. "You get to see everybody in the community willing to learn together." 

In the past, visitors of all ages also loved the "touch a brain" exhibit, in which preserved sheep, pig, and cow brains could be held and compared to other species. In 2023, more than 100 visitors and 73 student volunteers participated. 

Emily Hinson, a senior from Athens, Georgia, pursuing a degree in psychology and a minor in neuroscience, enjoys helping neuroscience become less intimidating for the general public. Hinson's goal once she graduates is to earn a master's degree in neuroscience and work in public health. 

"I want to be able to teach people about the brain and how to keep it healthy," Hinson said. "I want to make that information accessible to the public."