University of Arizona

Our objective was to bring our enthusiasm and excitement about neuroscience research and about how the brain works to the general public. Our exhibit was part of Science City, a large undertaking by our College of Science to have each of its departments engage the public about their discipline. Science City itself is a major component of the annual Tucson Festival of Books, which typically draws 120,000 to 130,000 attendees over the course of the weekend. Our Brainworks booth included 10 hands-on demos ranging from sensory functions like taste and smell, pain and temperature, to hearing, language and visual system demos, proprioception, illusions, field-of-view distortions, a brain zoo, and a kids table where little kids could make pipe cleaner neurons. We also had several students who served as rovers, out in the walkways. These students engaged the public with simple demos like jelly bean flavor detection, reflex time and multi-tasking. We also had a clinical partner that brought its Brain Bus to the Festival where the public could talk to clinicians, try on concussion goggles, hear about brain safety, and try their hand at mirror drawing.

We get lots of follow-up interest, especially from teachers, who either would like classroom visits or more materials.