Brain Stem Workshop

Brain Stem students had the chance to participate in a workshop presented by neuroscientist, Associate Professor Jennifer Rodger recently. Professor Rodger is a regular on radio and TV, educating the public about neuroscience research and the aim to improve the lives of individuals with neurological conditions.  She was accompanied by Lucy Anderson, an honours student in neuro-engineering. The focus of their presentation was aspects of brain-machine interface and the signals that can be picked up from the brain.

Student Reflections

Lucy and Jenny broadened our knowledge about the evolution of our brains and how scientists can detect brainwaves through advanced programs. The whole session was interesting and fun, and we played educational games. One game that I enjoyed was when we put electrodes on our heads that detected our brainwaves. This was linked to a game where we had to concentrate on a task and see the effect the brainwaves produced. Tisya Chowdhary

I enjoyed learning about the different signals our brain can produce and how they travel throughout our brain using neurons. We learnt how technology deepens our understanding of the brain, particularly machines such as electrodes, which are placed around the brain and used to record our brain signals. Being able to see things in action increased our understanding immensely. Especially interesting to me was the machine that picked up our brain signals from the front of the brain and turned our concentration levels into a game. We played the game against our friends to see who was concentrating the most. Overall, the experience was extremely worthwhile, and we learnt lots about brainwaves, brain signals and how engineering helps us in our research. Gabrielle Goes

I really enjoyed the game we played at the end with the guest speakers. It was a great way to show what they were telling us about their studies and compare it to how the brain is actually working. The game, similar to the EEG study, was very entertaining but it also gave a good example of how it works, what it’s tracking and how it affects movement. Ariyan Cooper