UNE’s Brain, Body, and Wellness Fair welcomes local schools, public
The University of New England’s annual brain fair — now eight years running — is akin to a mini version of Boston’s Museum of Science, said Ian Meng, the director of UNE’s Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences and Center for Pain Research. That’s because the annual event combines demonstrations, games, and hands-on lessons in the function and limitations of the brain.
The Brain, Body, and Wellness Fair kicks off this year at 3 p.m. Friday, April 4, in the Harold Alfond Forum on the Biddeford Campus (630 Pool St., Biddeford), and is expected to draw several hundred. The event, which runs until 8 p.m., is free and open to the public.
Held in celebration of Brain Awareness Week and hosted by UNE students, faculty, and professional staff, the fair features activities, demonstrations, and games that celebrate the STEM disciplines with youth and neighboring communities. Events include cow eyeball dissections, memory and balance challenges, an electroencephalogram (EEG) skull-cap station that demonstrates brain patterns, and other games that help explain optical illusions, color blindness, and phantom limb pain. The fair also features free ice skating, helmet fittings, and giveaways.
Students from dozens of schools have been invited, as well as local businesses and organizations, such as Educate Maine, a nonprofit that helps prepare Maine students for postsecondary learning and workforce challenges, and the Michael Goulet Foundation, which advocates for the improved treatment of seizure disorders and brain injuries — and has donated 34,000 helmets to date.
“It’s the Brain, Body, and Wellness Fair, so it’s more expansive than just the brain,” said Meng, a professor in UNE’s Department of Biomedical Sciences. “We involve a lot of different UNE programs, such as the athletic training program, where students talk about the impact of concussions and head injuries. Among many new things we added this year is a station related to vaccination to demonstrate how vaccines work. It’s all very student focused. The students run the show.”
UNE’s Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences founded the annual Brain, Body, and Wellness Fair to engage the local community and area youth in brain exploration. The 2019 fair drew a crowd of more than 600 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut it down. Last year, it drew 300 people despite a powerful Nor’easter that wiped out power across southern Maine.