Putting on NogginFest each year as a totally free, accessible presentation of local Northwest artists, musicians and neuroscience researchers – the largest student-run celebration of interdisciplinary neuroscience in our art and brain-saturated region – isn’t an easy lift!
LEARN MORE: NOGGINFEST!
But we have extraordinarily creative and resourceful undergraduates at Portland State University – 73 of whom have completed all the requirements for our new interdisciplinary neuroscience minor!
This unique minor, which started during COVID and requires direct research experience and community outreach, has only been around for three academic years!
LEARN MORE: Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Minor at PSU
LEARN MORE: Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Association (formerly the Neuroscience Club) @ PSU
NogginFest and the minor run on the volunteer efforts of students and non-tenured teaching faculty, with minimal notice from administrators at PSU. (It’s mostly gaslighting from PSU, as in “here’s $1500/term for supplies” – then “wait, no, did we say that?”) (!!)
LEARN MORE: NOGGIN BLOGGIN
LEARN MORE: What is Northwest Noggin?
Yet outside recognition – from our Northwest community, including K-12 teachers, artists, graduate students, the international Society for Neuroscience, the Dana Foundation (the originators of Brain Awareness Week and generous providers of a Brain Awareness grant for Noggin), and so many additional collaborators – is immense and welcome, and fuels our continued enthusiasm to let knowledge serve.
“Look for the helpers.”
–Fred Rogers (and he certainly didn’t mean university administrators!)
NOGGINFEST 2024 by Kadi Rae Smith
Kadi Rae Smith, President of the PSU Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Association, describes the joys and challenges of organizing the largest free celebration of brain research, art and music in the Pacific Northwest!
Discover how YOU can accomplish something similar in their post below!
NogginFest isn’t simple to host!
Finding a venue that can handle such a large and free festival isn’t easy.
Requirements include a BIG space for our many attendees, plenty of tables for educational art materials, our hands-on research booths, a stage for speakers and performances and, of course, lots of room for braiiiiiiiins! We were gifted two days of space at the amazing local venue, The Fixin’ To in St. Johns, Portland. The owners graciously donated their time and facilities to us free of charge!
Recruiting Volunteers
NW Noggin depends on volunteers to help run their free educational events and NogginFest is one of our largest events of the year! We found amazing volunteers from all over Oregon and southwest Washington, with the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Association at PSU at the core of the team.
Undergraduates, graduate students and alumni from Oregon State University, OHSU, Legacy Research Institute, WSU-Vancouver and PSU worked together, sharing experiences and trading tips on various ways to effectively engage with large groups of participants from all ages and walks of life.
INA put out the call for volunteer power to its members, and hosted training sessions for those with less experience doing neuroscience outreach in the community. Putting learning into practice by teaching can be daunting, so we set up meetings to help guide our peers on how to teach others what we’ve learned. We added artistic elements to each session to demonstrate various ways to make model neurons.
Wrangling Guest Speakers
The Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Association at PSU reached out to amazing local scientists at OHSU and Legacy Research Institute who volunteered to give presentations on their research.
Professional neuroscientists and graduate researchers put together presentations accompanied by visual aids. The research they presented was fascinating, covering the effects of brain injuries on speech and language comprehension, the nature of memory, the neural underpinnings of consciousness and the importance of touch in early childhood development.
LEARN MORE: Dr. Laura Villasana
LEARN MORE: Randall Olson, Ph.D. candidate
LEARN MORE: Noah Milman, Ph.D. candidate
LEARN MORE: Dr. Denesa Lockwood
LEARN MORE: Dr. Radhika Reddy
LEARN MORE: Conner Corbett
Developing and Building Interactive Art
The goal of INA was to have large, interactive brain-themed art pieces that participants could see, touch, take or take pictures of.
This decision was based on prior research that showcases how creativity aids in the development of new synapses in the brain, along with greater memory retention and tactile understanding.
LEARN MORE: The Link Between Creativity, Cognition, and Creative Drives and Underlying Neural Mechanisms
LEARN MORE: The neuronal basis of human creativity
LEARN MORE: Creativity, brain, and art: biological and neurological considerations
LEARN MORE: Transformative art: art as means for long-term neurocognitive change
LEARN MORE: Building a better brain through music, dance and poetry
A majority (if not all) of the interactive art was done by our splendid volunteers with INA and our affiliates, along with creative partners in the Pacific Northwest’s music, arts and science community.
Curating Entertainment
In the tradition of NogginFests past, we reached out to performers across many genres of music and all walks of life to engage the hearts and minds of festival attendees.
Music has long been tied to a variety of physiological and psychological effects on the brain, ranging from the legendary psychedelic rock scene of the 1960s to more modern aural innovations through enhancements in sound quality and effects.
LEARN MORE: Music and the brain: the neuroscience of music and musical appreciation
LEARN MORE: Cognitive Crescendo: How Music Shapes the Brain’s Structure and Function
LEARN MORE: Music and Health: What You Need To Know
Promotion and Financial Support
Throwing a free festival takes a lot of work and requires financial support. We are very grateful for the support and backing of a number of wonderful organizations that helped us spread knowledge around neuroscience, the brain, and art to the greater community.
