Music, dance and simulated brain surgery - Brain Awareness Week 2019 was great!

Our Brain Awareness Week activities for 2019 brought together art and neuroscience in a  wide range of events from music, dance, theatre and tours of anatomical and drawings collections. 

Prof Tara Spires-Jones (Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences and UK Dementia Research Institute at Edinburgh) teamed up with Russell Grant (astrologer and Strictly Come Dancing star) to present 'Dance for Your Life' an afternoon of dance and learning about dementia.  Russell cared for both is grandmothers, who suffered from Alzheimer's, and is passionate about the value of dance and music in helping people with the condition.  In addition to dance, Tara talked about some of the current research being undertaken to understand the dementia's.

In a seperate event, NHS brain surgeons,and paramedics teamed up with University of Edinburgh medical students to present 'Neurotheatre', a theatre style presentation of what happens when someone experiences a sudden brain trauma - from accident to operating theatre. With 250 people (many school pupils) in the Anatomy Lecture Theatre, they used interactive media and high tech surgery training equiupment to bring to life the process of saving a life following a head injury. The event was rounded off with a very moving presentation from people who had experienced head injury explaining about rehabilitation and living with ongoing brain damage.

You can read more about our Brain Awareness Week activities each year here.