Fascination Brain at Le Vaisseau in Strasbourg
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Neuroscience can be a hands-on experience: Particularly when it is about making brain models out of dough or simulating interactions in the motor cortex with a video game. On 24 May 2016, more than 60 families from Germany and France were able to experience neuroscience from a new perspective. Neuroscientists from the Bernstein Center Freiburg, BrainLinks-BrainTools, and Neurex offered five stations for children and their parents to learn about the brain. Upon finishing the stations, the children were able to collect small prizes.
The Bernstein Center Freiburg presented three exhibits: In the first stall, the "neuron game," children had to cooperate to steer a dot to a target with the help of neuron controllers. This exhibit fascinated both parents and children alike: Most participants were stunned about the coordinative efforts required for the generation of movement. The second station gave them a chance to create a simple brain model from coloured dough. In the third station, a computer controlled brain model showed which brain areas are associated with which functions. Furthermore, the children could then draw these functions on paper cutouts out of which they created brain hats.
"The event was a great success that offered exciting and fascinating activities", says Ute Tschepe, member of the Le Vaisseau directorate. A space for discovering science and technology, the Vaisseau provides children and adolescents with a first-hand experience of scientific phenomena. Among their exhibits are a miniature tidal power station and a simulator that enables children to see what life is like as an elderly or disabled person. "Fascination Brain" was the first collaboration of neuroscientists from Freiburg with the Strasbourg museum. However, as Tschepe concluded, "hopefully not the last."