Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana

The overall goal was to provide information regarding the brain function spanning from the cellular level to the individual and even the social impact of studying brain-related processes. We also wanted this year’s activities to stress the relevance of the labor that mental health professionals do.
Conferences: Three conferences regarding optogenetics in memory studies, Autism spectrum disorder, and Psychological treatment of diabetic patients were offered to the university community.
Elementary school show: Students from 8-12 yo learned about the brain anatomy, the neuron, and its functions, anxiety and how to manage it, emotions, and learning and memory.
We think that these activities were significant to broadcast within our community the relevance of the brain and its function in health and disease, how we use animal models to study it, and the clinical applications on mental health. Regarding the impact on elementary students of different grades, they had the opportunity to learn more about the brain, its parts, and its functions in a fun didactic way that attracted them to neurosciences.

We reached elementary students that showed genuine interest in neuroscience and biology; we were asked to return for other brain-related activities to keep engaging students in STEM careers. The conferences raised interest in the applications of brain studies within our university community.

Collaboration of psychology major students was very important since they reached out to the younger students from the elementary school and they had also the experience in making scientific information available through didactic tools.