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Interaction with Easton children, a lecture on tolerance to inhalants and ethanol, and an information campaign are part of Brain Awareness Week, which starts today.
Newsletters with information about the Lafayette Society for Neuroscience and the week’s events are being distributed to biology, psychology, and neuroscience majors today.
Nigel Atkinson, associate professor of neurobiology at the University of Texas at Austin, will give a talk on “Potassium Channels and Tolerance to Inhalants and Ethanol”4:10 p.m. Tuesday in the Kunkel Hall auditorium. He has served on several National Institutes of Health review panels and is an assistant editor for the journal Biochemical Genetics. Atkinson was a Dean’s Fellow for Research in 2001 and also received a College of Natural Sciences Teaching Excellence Award that year. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from M.S. Hershey Medical School in 1986 and conducted postdoctoral studies from 1986-1991 in genetics and neurobiology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Members of the Lafayette Society for Neuroscience will educate and interact with Easton children 4-6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. They will visit two neighborhood sites served by the Kids in the Community program coordinated by Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center, playing games involving the nervous system and teaching the children about the basic anatomy and functions of the brain. The basic function of a typical neuron will be explained using a man-made model. Reflex tests will be done, along with action-potential propagation games and crosswords.
Throughout the week, interesting facts about the brain will be distributed around the campus.
The week’s events are sponsored by the neuroscience program and the Lafayette Society for Neuroscience, a student-run organization that seeks to educate the campus community about neuroscience and provide a forum for neuroscience students to discuss ideas and concerns. It is led by neuroscience major Lisa Hudak ’05 (Moosic, Pa.), president, and advised by Elaine Reynolds, assistant professor of biology and chair of neuroscience.