Using hand-recognition technology, this interactive exhibit helps visitors understand how neurons communicate with each other at high speeds using thin spindly branches called dendrites that constantly change shape and sprout new shoots. © AMNH/D. Finnin Credit: American Museum of Natural History, AMNH/D. Finnin, AMNH/R. Mickens
- Using hand-recognition technology, this interactive exhibit helps visitors understand how neurons communicate with each other at high speeds using thin spindly branches called dendrites that constantly change shape and sprout new shoots. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- The piece by artist Devorah Sperber—especially when looking through the glass globe—mimics how the brain brings together bits of visual information to interpret a visual puzzle into the image of a familiar painting. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- This larger-than-life projection of a woman’s face displaying a range of emotions—fear, rage, disgust, joy, sadness, and surprise—illustrates how humans use facial expressions to communicate feelings. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- This interactive exhibit on procedural memory shows how practice makes the difficult task of tracing a shape in a mirror easier. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- This model shows two neurons connecting at a synapse, the juncture where one neuron sends messages to another. Neurons can have thousands of synapses, which allows them to communicate with thousands of other neurons at once. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- This language acquisition interactive exhibit demonstrates that accurately pronouncing particular sounds (as exemplified by the unique sounds of different languages) is more difficult if brain connections are not made early in life. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- The ability to plan ahead is a uniquely human trait. This game requires strategy to stack blocks in as few steps as possible by thinking spatially, thinking logically, and controlling movement. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- The work of Spanish artist Daniel Canogar, this funnel-shaped sculpture of light on copper and silver filaments evokes the immense brain development in utero: for the first five months, about half a million neurons form every minute. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- This anatomical illustration by Vesalius shows the brain as the hub of the nervous system, a branching network of nerves that links all the parts of your body and connects with the outside world. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- In the theater presentation on the brain and brain function, a clear resin 3D brain that lights up relevant brain areas is synchronized with a video that follows a student dancer as she auditions for Julliard. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- This dramatic 6-foot-tall model of a human figure is proportioned to highlight the amount of “real estate” in the brain devoted to touch signals from different parts of the body. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- 98 percent of people around the world agree on which of these odd-looking shapes should be called Kiki and which should be called Booba, reflecting a general tendency to link sights, sounds, and other sensations. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- Some parts of our brains evolved millions of years ago; others more recently. The display along this wall illustrates some of the many evolutionary pathways leading to the human brain. © AMNH/D. Finnin
- The sculpture of the subcortical brain, 35 times larger than life, is linked by glowing wires to other exhibits in the room to highlight the connective wiring between the inner and outer regions of the brain. © AMNH/R. Mickens
- Research has shown that London taxi drivers—who are required to memorize complicated routes—have enlarged sections of their brains where long-term memory is stored, the hippocampus. © AMNH/D. Finnin© AMNH/D. Finnin
- In this interactive exhibit, visitors try to read by touching, or using Braille. The brain has plasticity, and can change to make up for loss or adapt to a person’s needs. © AMNH/R. Mickens
- Aging changes the brain. Diseases such as Alzheimer’s destroy neurons and the connections between them, as had been shown in preserved brains and through brain imagery. © AMNH/R. Mickens
- Modern technology monitors the seizures of epileptics, and brain-computer interfaces are being developed to help paralyzed people control computerized devices and possibly even move again. © AMNH/ R. Mickens
- A floating projection of fMRIs (functional images of the brain) tells the story of four people: a translator from the United Nations; a classical musician; a rock star playing a set; and a basketball player reacting to action. © AMNH/ R. Mickens
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