DC Area Students Become Brainiacs
during Brain Awareness Week
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Students from Takoma Educational Center and the Hebrew Day Institute participated in Brain Awareness Week by holding and comparing mammal brains More than 280 local students became certified "brainiacs" at the National Museum of Health and Medicine on March 15 and 16, 2000, during a hands-on educational program co-sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. The program was part of "Brain Awareness Week," which was launched by the Dana Alliance in 1995, and has grown to include over 1000 organizations in 41 countries internationally.

Students played games and solved puzzles, asked questions, and had the chance to hold a human brain in sessions led by the country's top brain researchers and educators. Fifth through eighth grade students from the Takoma Educational Center, Shepherd Elementary, and The Owl School of Washington, DC, and the Hebrew Day Institute of Silver Spring, MD, participated. The program began with an overview session "You and Your Brain" by Dr. Gerald Fischbach, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Following the overview, students explored stations run by the participating institutes.

Courtesy of Fine Art Photography

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke scientist Dr. Cheryl Kitt displayed brain slices through a microscope, MRIs on a light box, and brain samples with magnifying glasses.
• From the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dr. Lucinda L. Miner and Dr. Cathrine Sasek explained the effects of drugs on the brain.
• National Institute on Aging scientists Dr. Molly Wagster and Dr. Steve Snyder showed a video summarizing brain development.
• From the National Institute of Mental Health Dr. Jay Giedd, Chief of Brain Imaging, and Elizabeth Molloy, Director of the Twin Project discussed how scientists learn about the brain and how it grows.
• The Dana Alliance showed a segment of a documentary film on sports and the brain.
• The National Museum of Health and Medicine displayed normal and diseased human and mammal brains, and provided human, horse, and sheep brains for the students to hold.

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