Your Amazing Brain

This project was a partnership between the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN) and Banbury Museum and Gallery. There was a brain-related exhibition and an associated ambitious programme of events for a range of audiences in the Banbury community in spring/summer 2022. In autumn 2022, the exhibition traveled to the Discover Bucks museum in Aylesbury. During its run at Discover Bucks until April 2023, another exciting programme of public engagement events will be delivered alongside the exhibition.

The aim

'Your Amazing Brain: A User’s Guide' aimed to use neuroscience to show visitors how amazing their brains really are. From emotions to senses, visitors discovered how their brain interprets what it sees, hears, smells, and feels. 

The Reviews

From the visitor comments book for the exhibition, at Banbury Museum and Gallery:

• The current exhibition has much to interest me. As I had very lively grandchildren with me, I am hoping to return either on my own or with a friend to have more time to reflect on the material on display.
• The Amazing Brain exhibition was brilliant, great value for money in half term, entertained 3 kids and 2 Mum's. The interactive elements superb. Great fun and learning at the same time. Have recommended it already.
• The Amazing Brain exhibition was excellent, and really well-pitched, since it appealed equally to a 7 year old and a 70 year old.
• We did the brain crafts before going into the exhibition and the children really enjoyed it, the people running the crafts were really friendly and the children liked showing them what they had made.

From WIN's external evaluation consultant, Dr Clodagh Miskelly:

• Your Amazing Brain brought research and information about the brain, neuroimaging, neuroscience and WIN research to a new audience outside of Oxford in a location with few opportunities to engage with science and scientists.
• The exhibition and events were high quality and drew on the expertise and experience of the partnership and specialist consultants.
• There was no means to formally evaluate the experience of individual visitors to the exhibition, however evidence from the other evaluation methods suggest that the events and the exhibition contributed to a greater understanding of the brain, neuroscience and neuroimaging and the work of WIN as well as scientists and scientific process; and informal feedback also suggests that the exhibition contributed to learning.
• Your Amazing Brain provided many and varied opportunities for 75 researchers take part in public engagement and to develop and improve communication skills
• There was good uptake of these opportunities by researchers including staff and students with different levels of experience in public engagement which reflects the strong culture around public engagement at WIN.