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Embedding Brains to Educate Minds Inside and Outside the Classroom
Author(s) -
Babcock Katharine Jane,
Kong Elizabeth,
Zumwalt Ann
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.441.6
Subject(s) - outreach , medical education , salience (neuroscience) , psychology , medicine , neuroscience , political science , law
Human brains are a powerful tool for teaching neuroscience at all educational levels as their strong emotional salience facilitates a memorable, and thus more effective, learning experience. Unfortunately, these post‐mortem tissues are delicate and typically preserved in chemicals that require handling with gloves in well‐ventilated areas, making their use in educational settings cumbersome. Plastination is a well‐known alternative to this conundrum, however it is expensive, often causes tissue shrinkage, and is still vulnerable to wear and tear. A new technique embedding brain tissue in silicone gel has recently shown great promise as a cost‐effective way to produce specimens that are structurally preserved, safe to handle, and durable for long‐term use. Following a successful pilot project to test the method earlier this year, the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology's Outreach Committee at the Boston University School of Medicine is currently working to create a permanent collection of normal and pathological silicone‐embedded brain specimens. These will be used in several ways, from supplementing neuroanatomy lessons in medical and graduate school courses, to providing brain demonstrations at different outreach events in the community. Graduate students in our program currently give brain demonstrations at the Museum of Science, Boston, but the tissues can only be handled by demonstrators due to their fragility. The main objective of this project is to create brain specimens that students can hold and interact with in a way that is safe for both them and the specimens. By doing so, brains that were donated for educational purposes will be made accessible to wider audiences while having their delicate structures protected and thus their educational shelf lives extended. Support or Funding Information This project was supported with funds from an American Association of Anatomists Education Outreach grant. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .