Where is NW Noggin?
NW Noggin is a locally sourced, 501(c)(3) ALL-VOLUNTEER shoestring nonprofit organization. Your tax-deductible contribution supports the purchase of sheep brains, pipe cleaners, electrodes and clay for innovative, arts-integrated outreach, and helps send volunteers from local universities (including Portland State University, OHSU, and other area institutions) to public school classrooms, conferences and free community events.
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NW Noggin: Art + Brains
BRAIN Initiative Career Award to Support Diverse Postdocs
Is Your Brain Fractal?
Slow Down, You’re Doing Fine
Join us in Chile in *2027*!
In 2027 we'll return to Valparaíso, Chile, home of the Humboldt squid! 🦑⚡️🧠🎨😃 Just like in 2025, and 2023, we'll explore how neurons carry information, and how research in Chile (involving the squid’s giant fused axons) informed our understanding of the electrical signaling that links our experiences to the world. We’ll visit laboratories to examine the rich history and exciting present of brain research, make art (including arpilleras, woven depictions of events that help people express challenging memories and preserve them for accountability), and contribute to community engagement with Ciencia al Tiro, a local STEAM (STEM + Arts) outreach nonprofit. LEARN MORE: LAS NEURONAS SON BACANES. LEARN MORE: Arte y Cerebros en Chile LEARN MORE: ARTS & BRAINS IN CHILE
How to 3D Print a Brain
“The mistakes pointed out the problems with the project, pushing the maker to improve upon them.” –Mark Frauenfelder Making things, experimenting, responding to what’s in front of you, thinking about your options, steps and consequences, learning from your own mistakes and converting your developing ideas and data into tangible objects,…
Video games don’t cause violence
What does? Dehumanization of others and access to guns. NW Noggin heads to North Carolina this week to attend the Raleigh Major, the first international Rainbow 6 Major video game tournament held in the United States. We’ve got our custom jerseys ready… Video games are popular. Over 2.5 billion people…
Let the children lead
Post by Michael Deveney, NW Noggin outreach volunteer from Portland State University Getting close and comfortable, I rode the 90 minutes (in 90 degree heat) through Oregon’s Willamette Valley in a single cabin pickup with no A/C along with two of my fellow Noggin experts, Paul Delahanty and Aaron Eisen…
Brains, Beavers & STEAM
Another gorgeous summer day in western Oregon, and our enthusiastic outreach volunteers tackled I-5 south for a 90 minute drive to Oregon State University! We were invited by OSU (home of the Beavers), the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Foundation (APF) to present a dinner workshop for…
Tennis Balls & Brains
“Tennis taught me so many lessons in life. One of the things it taught me is that every ball that comes to me, I have to make a decision. I have to accept responsibility for the consequences every time I hit a ball.” –Billie Jean King Like neurons, our excitatory…
LTP in La Grande
Brain cells connect, and those points of connection, called synapses, are changeable. Synapses will strengthen (“potentiate”), or weaken (“attenuate”) in response to changes in synaptic activity, which is determined by what you’re doing, experiencing, and/or perceiving at the time. Highly stimulated neurons, for example, will change how they express genes,…
Seeing & STEAM in Vancouver
“Science and art have in common intense seeing, the wide-eyed observing that generates empirical information.” –Edward Tufte NW Noggin crossed the Columbia River (at rush hour!) this spring to meet with curious students and families for STEAM NIGHT at Sarah J. Anderson Elementary..! LEARN MORE: Sarah J. Anderson Elementary Sarah…
Mushrooms, Psychosis, & Drugs
Thank you OHSU Brain Institute (OBI) for yet another compelling season of Brain Awareness lectures at Portland’s Newmark Theater! LEARN MORE: OBI Brain Awareness Lectures NW Noggin is always thrilled to introduce our informed and enthusiastic neuroscience outreach volunteers to celebrated scientists discussing cutting edge research on the brain! This…
Empowerment through Art & Brains
“Abled does not mean enabled. Disabled does not mean less abled.” ― Khang Kijarro Nguyen We are unique, all 7.7 billion of us here in 2019 – a remarkable number that’s literally doubled over the last half century. Think of all those brains wiring up under particular circumstances, subjected to…
A Legacy of Links
Like brain cells, Noggin volunteers love reaching out, and synapsing with people and organizations in our vibrant Northwest community. LEARN MORE: NW Noggin Collaborators Excitatory Connections At Portland State University, OHSU graduate students are integrated into advanced undergraduate neuroscience courses, while our accomplished PSU Neuroscience Club members not only present…
What is outreach like?
“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.” ―Maya Angelou
Our Northwest Noggin undergraduate and graduate outreach volunteers are enthusiastic and informed, and regularly let knowledge serve by going places, making art, exploring brain research, sharing stories and listening to community questions and interests in urban and rural K-12 public schools, coffee shops, museums, correctional facilities, houseless youth nonprofits, research conferences, Congress and more! LEARN MORE @ What is outreach like?.