MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences UnitWelcome to the virtual MRC CBU science night event, as part of the Cambridge Festival (26 March – 04 April 2021)
The MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit is one of the world’s leading centres of research looking at the brain’s extraordinary capacities in language, memory, perception, reasoning and creativity. We hope you have fun learning about the wide range of research carried out at the Unit.
On these pages you will find pre-recorded talks from four of the Unit’s Scientists, meet the team interviews, online demonstration/games and downloadable activities, suitable to all ages.
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On these pages you will find pre-recorded talks from four of the Unit’s Scientists, meet the team interviews, online demonstration/games and downloadable activities, suitable to all ages.
boosting the brain's adrenaline
Psychological decentering in young mental health
Research on Cochlear Implants
In this section you will find four talks on different topics of interest currently being researched at the Unit. Each short talk will give you an insight into different research methods and how scientific research is carried out at the Unit. The talks focus on semantic cognition, Parkinson’s disease, adolescence mental health and Cochlear Implants.
We hope you enjoyed the talks and found the research interesting. If you have any questions regarding the talks, or have a specific question you would like to ask the Scientist, then please contact communications@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk.
In this section you will find a range of online demonstrations and activities relating to the brain, which have been designed by our Scientists. Some of these experiments are used during research studies with help from our volunteers. There is also some downloadable content for you to print and enjoy at home.
Please try these short attention tasks below that are used in some of our research studies. Click each image under the title to open.
Here is some downloadable content for you to complete at home and a interactive video activity for you to take part in. Click on each image to download or start the video.
The MRC CBU has over 150 members of staff, ranging from Senior Scientists, Students, Researchers and Support Staff. The Unit’s research is organised into 12 programmes, each led by a Senior Scientist (Programme Leader), and supported by a research team. In this section you can virtually meet some of the Programme Leaders at the Unit to hear a bit about themselves and their research programmes.
The BrainBus initiative was drawn up as part of the Unit’s internal Equality and Diversity programme and was launched in 2019. The purpose of the BrainBus project is to provide a pivotal outreach experience to underprivileged children, exposing them to subjects, careers and role models which they would not otherwise access. The project brings a range of diverse neuroscientists and purpose-designed interactive neuroscience activities into the primary classrooms, at no charge to the schools.
Here you can find a great introductory talk about the brain, an interactive video on how to build a neuron at home, and a demonstration of a Brainbus activity complete with downloadable stroop sheets and score cards for you to recreate at home.
More information about the Brainbus initiative can be found on the main MRC CBU website here:
https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/brain-bus/
Here you can find a great introductory talk about the brain and an interactive video on how to build a neuron at home. More information about the Brainbus initiative can be found on the main MRC CBU website here
The Unit’s research is very dependent on keen volunteers who contribute to our studies by completing computerised experiments and taking part in various types of brain scanning studies in our Unit, and online tasks that you can complete at home. More information about participating, and how you can sign up can be found on our website: https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/take-part/
Thank you for visiting the MRC CBU science night virtual event. We would be grateful if you could let us know your thoughts about your experience of our virtual science night by completing this short form below. Your feedback is important and will help us improve future events. No personal data will be required.
