Volume 1, Issue 5
March/April 2007
Brain Awareness Week
2007
Marie Gingras
1
What’s inside… Canada-wide
BAW updates from:
Vancouver, BC
Lethbridge, AB
Saskatoon, SK
Regina, SK
Hamilton, ON
Montreal, QC
Halifax, NS
St. John’s, NFLD
Plus! The Science Skinny What it takes to raise Awareness
CAANCB EXECUTIVE
GRAD STUDENT SOCIETY
President
Past President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Sarah Rigley MacDonald
Emma Turner
Nicole Cox
Hortense Nsoh Tabien
Jeff Leiter
Dr. Bernie Juurlink
Dr. Ric Devon
Dr. Elliot Scott
Dr. Michael Kawaja
Dr. Maxwell Hincke
COUNCILORS
Dr. A.W. Hrycyshyn
Dr. Elliot Scott
Dr. Sandra Miller
SCIENCE POLICY COMMITTEE
Dr. Ric Devon – Chair
Dr. Steven Pang
Dr. Peter Cauwenbergs
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Dr. Anne Croy - Chair
AWARDS COMMITTEE
Dr. Hugo Bergen – Chair
Dr. Anne Croy
Dr. Peter Haase
Dr. Ron Leslie
Emma Turner
E-NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Michelle Black
DEPARTMENT REPS
University of Lethbridge Biological
Sciences: Saikat Basu
University of Manitoba Human
Anatomy and Cell Science: Jeff Leiter
University of Saskatchewan
Anatomy and Cell Biology: Nicole Cox
WANTED!
Graduate student department reps.
Contact us for more details
CAANCBGS@gmail.com
Congratulations to all who held Brain Awareness Week events with their
communities! This Special Edition of the ANCHOR is dedicated to highlighting
and celebrating a very successful BAW 2007!
Read on and discover BAW activity highlights from coast to coast…
…Vancouver, BC
Advance Corporate Training Ltd. (ACT) loves the brain and incorporates it into everything we do
– from using it in our logo, website and publications to designing our information delivery in
ways that stimulate each section of the brain.
To celebrate Brain Awareness Week 2007, our external newsletter had a “Brain Buzz” theme.
The newsletter included tips for using whole-brain thinking, mnemonics, as well as exercises to
keep your brain “in shape.” There were also plenty of fun puzzles and quizzes.
ACT also hosted a course at our head office in New Westminster, BC, titled “Memory,
Mnemonics and More”. Staff participants learned all about how our memory works and how
they can use mnemonics to increase memory retention.
In addition, we hosted a course at Aurora College in Yellowknife, NT, titled “How to Think Like
Leonardo da Vinci”. Participants learned the skills of history’s greatest genius and worked
through a series of exercises to develop the many facets of thinking detailed through da Vinci’s
Seven Principles.
Brain Awareness Week was a tremendous success at ACT and we look forward to an even
better week next year!
Contributed by Kevin Smith
2
79,000 it was uncertain how many might
attend; it was hoped there might be 250 to 300
people. However the actual attendance of
over 450 people surpassed all expectations
and made this event a huge success!
…Lethbridge, AB
On March 2007 the Canadian Centre for
Behavioural Neuroscience, University of
Lethbridge, participated in Brain Awareness
Week for the first time. For this inaugural
involvement, it was decided to focus on three
simple but effective events.
The third event was an Open House at the
Canadian
Centre
for
Behavioural
Neuroscience
featuring
displays,
demonstrations and tours of the dry labs.
Sixty-nine people attended the Open House
and participants were encouraged to sign up
for tours in advance. An hour had been
allotted for each tour but it was quickly
realized that this was not enough time.
Researchers
entertained
visitors
with
informative demonstrations of the confocal
and electron microscopes. Students from the
various labs were able to show off and explain
their research.
The first event was a series of short lectures
at two of the senior’s centres in Lethbridge.
Dr. Matt Tata gave a talk called “What’s this
Brain Anyway? An Overview of the Parts of
the Brain and What They Do”, Dr. Hugo
Lehmann spoke about “Dementia and Memory
Loss in Elders”, and Natalie de Bruin Nutley
spoke about “Parkinson’s Disease”. These
lectures were very well-received with over 65
seniors in attendance at the two centers.
Dr. Kolb
The second event was a
public lecture by Dr.
Bryan Kolb called “Can
Your Brain Change? A
New Look at What Makes
the Brain ‘Plastic’” at the
Yates Memorial Centre.
Given that this was the
first public lecture for
Brain Awareness Week in
a city with a population of
The feedback from participants and organizers
of all three events was positive and planning
has begun, building on the success of BAW
2007, to make BAW 2008 an even bigger
event. In particular, we are very excited about
getting to share our excitement about the
brain with children in both elementary and
secondary schools next March!
Contributed by Christine Werk
Brain Awareness Week links:
SfN: http://www.sfn.org/baw/about.cfm
Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives:
http://www.dana.org/brain.aspx
Canadian Universities involved with BAW: Dalhousie
University, Neuroscience Institute and Halifax
Chapter of SfN (http://neuroscience.dal.ca/);
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan
Neuroscience Network
(www.usask.ca/snn/baw06.html); University of
Toronto, Program in Neuroscience
(www.utoronto.ca/neurosci/brain_bee_main.html);
University of Guelph (http://www.uoguelph.ca/);
Montreal (http://www.sfn-montreal.ca/baw/main.htm);
Winnipeg (www.sfnmanitoba.ca/news/?id+20060306wcsn.txt); Memorial
University of Newfoundland
(www.med.mun.ca/basic/pages/programs_neuroscie
nce.htm); and Queens University
(http://www.queensu.ca/homepage/)
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…Saskatoon, SK
The Saskatchewan Neuroscience Network was proud to host the 11th annual Brain Awareness
Week which ran from March 18-25th, 2007 in Saskatoon. The week began with a wine and cheese
reception and public lecture given by Dr. Peter Wells from the University of Toronto on the effect of
crystal meth on fetal development. A week-long public seminar series followed at a local library, with
a wide variety of topics ranging from researchers discussing Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s
disease to personal perspectives from those affected by brain injuries, Schizophrenia and Epilepsy.
The last event, a neuroscience fair, was the Brain BLAST which saw over 500 attendees. This
event encompasses our community partners, university researchers, a seminar series and our Kids
Judge Science Fair.
Sarah Rigley MacDonald, President of the CAANCB Graduate Student Society (top left) poses with winners of the Kids
Judge contest.
Our newest program, Kids Judge, is designed to increase the exposure of high school and
elementary children to neuroscience. The high school students voluntarily design and present
science fair projects which are aimed at educating elementary aged children in basic neuroscience.
Young children then act as judges during the Brain Blast. Two thousand dollars in scholarships
were awarded to winners thanks to generous sponsorship by the University of Saskatchewan, Pfizer
Canada, an educational grant from Eli Lilly and Cameco.
Organizers would like to thank all of our sponsors and especially our many community partners who
remind us of the importance of this program and inspire us to continue with our research.
Contributed by Sarah Rigley MacDonald
4
…Regina, SK
…Hamilton, ON
A Successful Brain Awareness Week in
Regina!!
Students and faculty at McMaster university
rallied together to create an unforgettable
Brain Awareness Week 2007. Dr. Richard J.
Davidson is a William James and Vilas
Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, and
Director of the Waisman Lab for Brain Imaging
and Behavior at the Wisconsin Center for
Affective Science and Center for Mind-Body
Interaction, University of Wisconsin. He gave
two talks for BAW 2007:
“Order and Disorder in
the Emotional Brain”
and “Buddha’s Brain:
Neuroscientific
Research on Meditation
and the Transformation
of
Attention
and
Emotion”.
Regina’s Brain Awareness Week Committee
is comprised of many diverse agencies. This
year’s events included: “Get Stroke Smart”
presentations, a “Memory” presentation, a
public forum on “Sex Hormone Replacement
in Aging Men and Women: Effects on Health
and Brain Function”, several presentations on
Alzheimer’s Disease, presentations on
Acquired Brain Injury to University of Regina
students, a Child Passenger Restraint Clinic, a
FASD Awareness quilt displayed at City Hall,
and display tables providing information at two
of Regina’s Health facilities.
The BAW Committee produces an Information
booklet which provides information on all the
participating agencies, as well as a Children’s
Activity booklet, which has lots of great
activities about the brain. Most of the
Children’s Activity booklets are distributed at
the Science Center. Materials from Dana
Alliance, our Information booklets and other
materials from the participating committee
members were made available at the
presentations and at the display tables.
Dr. Judy Shedden has
organized a local Brain
Dr. Davidson
Bee for the past four years. This year’s
competition saw 23 high school students from
Southern Ontario compete for a chance to win
All of the events reportedly had very good
attendance. One of the display tables had a
“Free” raffle draw for items supplied by various
committee members, and this worked very
well in drawing people to the table to get
information. The website for Regina BAW
activities is http://uregina.ca/willia4j/.
Brain Bee Champions (from left). Mays Ali won first
place, Ayan Dey placed second, and Jennie Pouget
placed third. Photo courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator,
February 21, 2007.
an all-expenses paid trip to the International
Brain Bee competition. The first place winner,
Mays Ali, 17, has wanted to be a
neurosurgeon since she was in grade 3 and is
“fascinated with how the brain works”.
Contributed by Sheila Wignes-Paton, Phoenix
Residential Society
Contributed by Rosalind Grant
5
…Montreal, QC
To mark Brain Awareness Week, NeuroScience Canada collaborated with the Montreal Chapter
of the Society for Neuroscience and the Montreal Planetarium, to host a special presentation by
Dr. Luchino Cohen, Program Scientist, Space Life Sciences, at the Canadian Space Agency. Dr.
Cohen provided a fascinating glimpse into how the human brain adapts to the weightless
conditions of space.
Using
photos, film clips and reenactments of space travel,
guests from the science and
business communities learned
about past and present research
in space neurobiology and
psychology; the influence of
microgravity on the central
nervous system and the inner
ear; neurological adaptations in
space; the role of the central
nervous system in hand-eye
coordination; the psychological
aspects of space travel; and the
benefits of space research for
Dr. Cohen, Program Scientist, Space Life Sciences, at the Canadian
Space Agency
the Canadian population.
(From left to right) Dominique Godbout, Communications Assistant, NeuroScience Canada; Dr Trevor Drew,
President of the Montreal Chapter of Society for Neuroscience; Dr. Luchino Cohen; Jean-Pierre Arsenault, Manager,
Media Relations and Information Services, Canadian Space Agency; Inez Jabalpurwala, President, NeuroScience
Canada; Judith Sale, Executive Assistant, NeuroScience Canada
Contributed by Dominique Godbout
6
There was an open house held at the
Montreal Neurological Institute. Children from
schools across the greater Montreal region
visited laboratories, and got to see a real cow
brain. In addition, Dr. Denise Klein gave a
lecture about brain function to the students.
…Montreal, QC
The Montreal Brain Awareness Week was
another success this year. Our committee was
formed of graduate students from McGill
University, Université de Montréal, and
Concordia University. We organized school
presentations, a public lectures series for
adults and open houses in research centres.
Graduate student, Sandra Leh, giving a tour of the
laboratory.
From left: Emily Rubin-Ferreira (advertising committee),
Sonja
Christina
Huntgeburth
(public
lectures
committee), Dr. Elin Thordardottir, Dr. Marc Pell, Horia
Pribiag (public lectures committee), Erin Dickie (English
elementary school committee).
Backed by an army of graduate students in
neuroscience, we visited a total of 175
elementary classes (6th grade) and 119 high
school classes (12th grade) for our classic 1
hour presentation on the brain. These
presentations reached 8800 students from
121 schools! For our public lecture series Dr.
Luchino Cohen, Program Scientist, Space Life
Sciences, Canadian Space Agency spoke at
the Montreal Planetarium on “Functioning with
a floating brain”. Dr. François Neveu spoke
about multiple intelligences, Dr. Louis Bherer
spoke about exercise and its benefits on brain
function, Dr. Dominic Beaulieu-Prévost spoke
about the origin of false memories, Vincent
Paquette spoke about our spiritual state and
its effects on the nervous system, Dr. Elin
Thordardottir (see image above) spoke about
bilingual language development and Dr. Marc
Pell spoke about communicating with the right
side of the brain.
Top, Graduate student, Scott Mackey shows students
a cow brain. Below, Dr. Denise Klein gives a
presentation on brain function.
We would like to
thank Dr. Trevor
Drew,
the
president of the
Montreal chapter
of the Society for
Neuroscience, all
of our volunteers,
and
especially
our sponsors.
Contributed by Emma Duerden
7
Additionally, the ever-popular Build-ANeuron activity delighted both kids and
parents alike. These activities would not be
possible were it not for the volunteers who
generously donated their time in order to see
it through.
…Halifax, NS
During BAW, members of the scientific
community work together to create interesting
ways of discovering the brain, and members
of the Dalhousie University Neuroscience
Community were up for the challenge!
The week prior to BAW, the President of the
American
Society
for
Bioethics
and
Humanities, Dr. Paul Root Wolpe, Department
of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania,
launched things off with a
lecture entitled “Building Better
Brains:
The
Ethics
of
Cognitive Enhancement”.
During the actual week of
March 12th to the March 16th,
two public lectures were given.
Dr. Wolpe
Dr Susan Bryson, of the IWK
Health Centre, spoke about “Autism and the
Social Brain”, and Dr. Stan Kutcher, of
Dalhousie University and QEII Health
Sciences Centre gave a talk entitled “Your
Teenager and Your Teenager’s Brain: What is
Going On?”.
Dr. Bryson
Members of SiNS guide children and their parents
through an interactive display focused on “Lizard
Brains” at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural
History.
The
Undergraduate
Students
in
Neuroscience Society (UNS) held their
second annual Brains on Film contest. The
films were to be approximately 5 minutes
long, were to feature the brain, and were
judged by members of the faculty.
To finish off BAW, a lecture was given by Dr.
Benjamin Rusak of the department of
Psychology/Psychiatry, Dalhousie University.
The captivating talk, entitled “Sleep,
Learning, and Plasticity”, saw a big turnout
from the members of the local academic
community. This finale
lecture was followed by
a BAW Social. During
this gathering, students
and members of faculty
had a chance to view
the Brains on Film
entries, just prior to
Dr. Rusak
awarding prizes to
Dr. Kutcher
Dalhousie’s
[Graduate]
Students
in
Neuroscience Society (SiNS; including
students from various departments including
Physiology, Anatomy and Neurobiology, and
Psychology) once again created an interactive
display at the Museum of Natural History.
This display included a brain model, a life-like
jelly brain, and a poster about “Lizard Brains”,
which contained information on the structure
and function of the reptilian brain and a
comparison between it and the human brain.
the winners. The week was a huge success!
Contributed by Heather Angka
8
…St John’s, NFLD
We held a Brain Storm, which is a Q & A competition that tests high school students’ knowledge
of the brain and nervous system. Students are quizzed about the brain and how it relates to
intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, aging, sleep and brain disorders.
For the first time since we began holding our local competitions in 2000, we were able to secure
funding to send the winner to Baltimore for the International Brain Bee (IBB). Louanne Crocker
reported that she had a wonderful experience at the IBB competition March 16 & 17, 2007. She
competed against 32 other representatives from other local brain bees in the United States (27),
Canada (3), Australia (1) and India (1). Some competitors were able to prepare many months for
the IBB with tutors. Congratulations to Louanne for placing 16th! Thank you to Dr. Norbert
Myslinski and colleagues for organizing such a successful and worthwhile event. INMHA helped,
in part, to fund our competition. Check out the May edition of the INMHA newsletter for more info.
We also held a brain art competition. There are many ways for people to express their ideas
about the brain: from mechanisms of how memories are formed or lost, repair after injury to
addiction behaviour. Another creative way to think about the brain is via art. In recent years, our
neuroscience community has challenged Newfoundland and Labrador high school students
(grades 10-12) to think about the brain through art. Using their creative skills, many students
have accepted that challenge and produced some beautiful and thought-provoking art centering
on the brain.
Above, the Brain Storm 2007 Organizing Team (front row)
Stephanie Hancock & Jared Clarke, L-R Tara Deemyad, Matt
Grimes, Krista Hewlett, Kris Langdon, Louanne Crocker (1st
place), Melissa Christie-Fougere, Dr. James Rourke (Dean of
Medicine), & Dr. John McLean. Missing: Doreen MacNeil,
Yudan Liu, and Dr. Xihua Chen.
Left, Brain Art Competition 1st place winner, Amy Stapleton of
Holy Heart High School “Wired for School". You can find
more information on the Brain Storm Competition at
http://www.med.mun.ca/brainstorm1. For more information on
the Brain Art Competition, see http://www.med.mun.ca/brainart.
Contributed by John McLean
9
participation, something that has been rather
low in previous years. She finishes with a
laugh, adding: “I think if we could somehow
pit people [or faculties] against each
other...adding some aspect of competition…I
could see people signing up”.
The Science Skinny
By Heather Angka, Dalhousie University
What Does it Take to Increase
Awareness?
The majority of the responsibility for
organizing BAW falls on the shoulders of the
Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Halifax
Chapter Representative, a position that has
existed officially for approximately five years,
and is directly associated with the
international SfN. Since mid 2006, Dr. Tara
Perrot-Sinal,
Department
of
Psychology,
has
been serving as
local Chapter rep.
This position was
formerly held by
Dr. Gail Eskes,
Department
of
Dr. Perrot-Sinal
Psychiatry, who
was very successful in establishing a solid
foundation on which to build.
I also had the opportunity to speak with Dr.
Steven Barnes, Director of the Dalhousie
Neuroscience Institute and previous Halifax
Chapter Representative. “The SfN Chapter
and
the
Neuroscience
Institute
are
intimately
tied
together to push
forward
Neuroscience and
make good things
happen”, he said.
BAW, according to
Dr. Barnes, does
Dr. Barnes
not bring in any
money; it serves to raise awareness and to
get the Neuroscience name out there.
“Having children starting, and members of
the general public continuing, to learn about
brains can only be good news for a future of
healthy brains”.
To organize BAW
2007, Dr. PerrotSinal led meetings
with all volunteers
helping to plan and
coordinate
the
events of the week,
requested funding,
and attended the
BAW lectures and
Dr. Eskes
socials. In order to
raise funds, Dr. Perrot-Sinal wrote letters,
generally followed up by a phone call, and/or
an e-mail using, for the most part, a list that
was successfully established by Dr. Eskes.
Both Dr. Barnes and Dr. Perrot-Sinal
emphasized the hard work of the individuals
dedicated to BAW, particularly Linda
MacNutt, the recently retired Neuroscience
Institute Administrator, who has been
instrumental in BAW success.
He also
made sure to mention the involvement of
graduate students.
“Graduate student
involvement, particularly that of SiNS, is
what makes Brain Awareness Week work”.
Left, Brain
Awareness
Week, 2000.
Andrew Reid
explores the
brain
with
local school
kids. Photo
courtesy of
the
Daily
News,
Halifax.
I had the chance to talk with Dr. Perrot-Sinal
and when asked if there are any plans,
within the immediate future, to expand the
activities of BAW, she commented on the
possibility of a Brain Bee. The idea would be
to have a two-fold outcome; not only would it
actively involve local school children, but it
would also lead to an increase in faculty
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