Nicky Penttila

OK, so it’s no big deal, whatever. But after we finished following the students doing a Brain Awareness Week tour at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, writer Aalok Mehta and I got to don the gloves and handle the merchandise just like the kids. The once-living-human brain was smaller than I expected and heavier, odorous of alcohol and drippy (alcohol-brain juice may have hit my shoe), but wow, an object of awe and inspiration. There once was a mind in there.

I also had to pause at the thought that this could be a donated-me in 60 years. Well, so long as I remain healthy, said Archie Fobbs, manager of the neuroanatomical collections; otherwise I’ll get sliced and used for research. Either way, something good could still come of me when I’m gone. Aalok blogged on the event for dana.org; I pulled still images from my new tiny video camera, so there may be a tiny video coming soon. Sadly, there’s no visual record of my own adventure–everyone’s hands were wet.

The museum offers a Brain Awareness Week audio tour for the general public; don’t be dissuaded by the driver’s license and registration check at the drive into the Walter Reed Army Hospital campus, where the museum is. It’s not too late to be part of BAW 2009–quite a few of the schools involved are on spring break this week, so they’ll be celebrating next. Check out the Dana Alliances’ international calendar for events near you.