NW Noggin partnered with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra to present on music and the brain on Thursday, December 3rd, at the Brickstone Ballroom in downtown Vancouver…
We arrived before dawn, to set up our brain display, and enjoy an excellent breakfast…
Both the Brickstone and Symphony made us feel exceptionally welcome, with table centerpieces featuring “brain celosia” flowers native to the tropical and subtropical Americas, Africa and Asia…
The wide sulci exhibited by the plant did remind us a little of the devastating cortical degeneration associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Yet we were there to talk about the brain’s remarkable resiliency, and how patients and their caregivers can benefit immensely from enjoyment of art, and music…
NW Noggin Art and Neuroscience Coordinators Jeff and Bill began with a brief introduction to the brain, and various forms of memory and emotion. Degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s can severely damage cortical networks essential for some aspects of memory, but leave other regions – including those engaged in physical and emotional responses to music – relatively, and thankfully, unscathed…
The topic was inspired by the film “Alive Inside,” about the incredible effect of music on patients suffering from dementia in nursing homes. A powerful clip illustrating this influence on one patient, Henry, was shown during the breakfast…
Slides for the talk are available here…
Beethoven Brains and Bloody Mary’s (PDF)
Beethoven Brains and Bloody Mary’s (PPT)
We were joined by experienced NW Noggin “brain wranglers,” including John Harkness, Angela Hendrix, Rosie Salice, and Chelsey Taylor Anderson from WSU Vancouver, and Ryan Walsh and Austin Howard from Portland State, who answered questions about Alzheimer’s, the long term effects of SSRI’s, and the memory impacts of those Bloody Mary’s… 🙂
Volunteer Ryan Walsh is a past Velo Cult presenter, Noggin summer program teacher, and also an accomplished classical guitarist (ryanwalshguitar.com).
Ryan accompanied our presentation of real human brains with some neurally stimulating classical music…
Many thanks to Park Llafet of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Benjamin Surmi, Executive Director of the Hampton at Salmon Creek Memory Care Community, for arranging this musical and educational community event.