BAD is good, the Brain Awareness Day, London

Phineas Gage was amazingly hit in the head by an iron bar, the bar perforated his skull and even more amazingly cauterized the wound and left him a little ;-) dizzy yet alive and awake.

The most amazing thing of all is yet that he changed. His personality changed. The bar hit his brain and the damage changed his way of being, transforming him from a quite, reliable, reasonable man into an inconsiderate, risk-loving betting-prone individual. The brain as a host for personality, cognition, emotions.

During the International Brain Awareness Week (14-20th March 2011) here in London Dr Ashok Jansari has thought and developed (wow, what a brain!) a BAD day (Brain Awareness Day) at the School of Psychology at UEL Stratford campus. Some of us students: Astrid, Rebecca, Kitty and myself will be somehow the BAD girls, trying to help with organization.

There will be an open lecture ‘The Life of Brian (the Brain)’, with a sum of the history of our understanding of the brain. Dr Jansari will demonstrate how we can understand the devastating consequences of some forms of brain damage and also the preserved abilities following trauma.

This discussion will help to grasp the MIRACLE of a healthy brain functioning and to use this information to develop rehabilitation making patients' existences easier.

The event will be hosting Mr. David, who cannot recognise any faces (including his wife’s), but can tell people’s emotions and football teams t-shirts (who does he stand for?)

Mrs. Nicola will also attend. She is a profoundly amnesic patient, yet Dr Jansari’s team taught her to use an electronic device to remember to take her medication (despite this remarkable learning, each time she sees the device, she says she never used it before).

Between 7 and 8pm there will be a reception with information displayed by organisations that work with individuals with brain-related issues (e.g. Headway and the Encephalitis Society), posters about research at the School of Psychology and even models of the brain that the audience can touch and take apart.

The evening will conclude with a panel discussion about ‘living with brain damage’ where two of Dr. jansari’s patients will discuss both what it means to live with these challenging conditions but also the ways they learnt to cope with them.

BAD is good ;-), and someone doesn’t need to be an academic to attend. If you are simply just interested in brains and what they do, you are greatly welcome. it’s FREE and open to all – Wednesday 16th of March, 6-9pm, at UEL’s Stratford Campus

You can also find Brain Awareness Day listed on the Dana Foundation’s website.