Sharjah: A journey into the human mind is attracting visitors to the ‘Brain: The Inside Story’ exhibition at Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, which opened on Wednesday.
The exhibition, organised by the American Museum of Natural History, showcases the marvels of the brain: how it processes information and makes decisions that enable us to perform everyday activities, as well as reach the height of art and technology.
The interactive installation also demonstrates advances in neuroscience, highlighting the brain’s ability to rewire itself in response to experience, disability or trauma. It showcases technologies that researchers use to study the brain and treat conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
A three-pound preserved brain firing neurons is also on display. The exhibit has been created by Spanish artist Daniel Canogar who used lines of light projected onto hanging recycled wires to represent the brain’s connectivity and highlight its electrical impulses.
One exhibit notes that, on average, half a million neurons form every minute during a baby’s first five months in the womb. Destruction of the connections between neurons can cause diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
There is also a demonstration of how your brain ‘corrects’ images received in the eyes, which are formed upside down. The exhibit uses small glass globes to focus an art installation behind them to illustrate how the mind perceives the final scene.
The show also features brain scan images, brain-teaser games and other interactive exhibits.
A number of workshops are also designed to help children and adults learn how our brain governs our curiosity and emotions.
