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Monday, July 2, 2012

NEAT STUFF: Brain Awareness Videos

http://teddysratlab.blogspot.com [Full link to blog for email clients.]

Last year, the Society for Neuroscience sponsored a contest for (mostly) students to create videos that promote awareness of the brain, neuroscence, function, diseases and disorders.  I stumbled across the site while looking up some information for our local pBrain Awareness Council.  This site lists the award winning videos from last year, and I'd like to link and promote two in particular:

The first place winner - The Treasure Hunt - consists of a young person reciting a poem about setting off in search of "what happened to Grandpa's words" after the grandparent suffered a stroke with lasting aphasia.  The video is quite charming, told from the perspective of a child, yet containing very accurate and understandable science.

You can view the video here, and it's easy to see why this was the overall winner for last year.

The second place video (at right) is quite fun, and presents a brief overview of brain structure and function as a hip-hop song.  Sorry, Keith, but this one just might displace Pinky and the Brain's "Brainstem" as my favorite brain song!

Third place was taken by a claymation-style entry: Synaptic Plasticity.  I may just have to borrow this one for teaching, it's a great illustration, although the neurons I illustrate don't usually look that happy!

The rest of the video entries are here and there is some very good work in the list.  The 2012 contest is under way, with the deadline in about a week.  Once the new videos are posted, I'll write about them for a future NEAT STUFF entry.

Until then, in the words of "Brain Brain":
 
"Take care of your brain, 'cause it's all that you've got - you'll live a happy life, and what's better than that?"

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