UNE exhibits draw crowds at Maine Science Festival

The Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences (CEN) and UNE were well represented at the second annual Maine Science Festival held March 18 to March 19, 2016. The event was staged in downtown Bangor, Maine, and attracted more than 10,000 people spread across 45 events, including a high school science fair.

The UNE Neuroscience group brought 25 undergraduate and graduate/professional students, staff and faculty volunteers from the Colleges of Pharmacy, Osteopathic Medicine, and Arts and Sciences. The team was led by Michael Burman, Ph.D., associate professor of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences and CEN Outreach program coordinator. The team also included Associate Professor Kerry Tucker, Ph.D. and Professor Ian Meng, Ph.D., from the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. Professor Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., vice president of Research and Scholarship, also assisted and was a panelist on two sessions, one discussing the importance of state investments in biomedical research and its benefit in growing the Maine economy, and the other on the opioid crisis taking place in Maine and throughout the United States. 

During the festival, thousands of children, young adults and parents visited UNE’s neuroscience room, which included a two-part experience. The first part of the exhibit was the “Human Neuroanatomy Exhibit,” which introduced visitors to an impressive collection of human brains and spinal cords. Using more than 20 different brain specimens, CEN volunteers educated the public on a host of different diseases and disorders that impact the nervous system including stroke, brain cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Parents and children exiting the human brain exhibit were awestruck by what they had seen and learned, with many positive comments made to the organizers.

The second part of the exhibit was a “Brain Exploration Station.” This station had a microscopy table with slices of brain regions to view and a comparative anatomy station with cow, sheep, and rat brains that the public could touch. Volunteers also demonstrated the importance of helmet safety through proper helmet fitting, a make-your-own helmet and egg drop activity for younger children, as well as melon drop demonstration with and without a helmet. Finally, the CEN exhibit mixed things up with some interactive activities such a mind flex game, a muscle stimulation activity where people could attach electrodes to their arms and control the muscle movement of another individual's arm, and activities for younger children that included coloring and making pipe cleaner neurons. 

The Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences is now gearing up for the UNE Brain Fair on Friday, April 8, 2016 on the Biddeford campus. The volunteers will host more than 600 students from Biddeford and Dayton as well as a free, public event from 4-8 p.m. in the Alfond Forum.