‘Brain Basics’ promises Halloween treat

Published On Tue 23 Oct 2018 by Grant Hill

Having captured hearts with an alternative Valentine’s Day event earlier this year, staff from the University of Dundee will move on to matters of the mind for Halloween.

An animal brain dissection will be carried out by Claire Cunningham, Mortuary Technician at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID), at The Vine Function Suite on Wednesday 31 October.

It follows on from the sell-out dissection of a sheep heart performed by Claire on the most romantic day of the year. Members of the public are once again invited to come and find out how their bodies work.

‘Brain Basics’ is part of a nationwide Anatomy Nights series organised by Hull York Medical School and the University of Edinburgh and intended to give members of the public the opportunity to learn about the human body.

“Most people know that they’ve got something pretty special in their head but they still understand very little about how brains actually work,” said Claire. “It really is the most extraordinary and complex organ and is many times more powerful than a supercomputer.

“Human brains are larger than the animal brain I will be dissecting, but they are of similar structure so what I will be doing is showing where the different parts of the brain are and what they do. I’ll be explaining a little about how brains work and what happens when they are not working optimally as well as how aspects such as memory and language are controlled.

“As our dissection will include a real brain, we advise discretion. Those who don’t wish to see the dissection can step out at that point and, and although young people are welcome at the event, they should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.”

Brain Basics, which takes place at 6.30pm on Wednesday 31 October, is ticketed, with limited spaces available. All proceeds will be donated to a brain research charity.

Anyone interested in attending the Dundee event can book tickets at www.ticketsource.co.uk/AnatomyNights. 

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 384768
Mobile: 07854 953277
Email: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk