http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010712/hl/brain_show_2.html
Thursday July 12 6:26 PM ET
Museum Show Tells How Brain Works
By CARL HARTMAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Like a computer, the human brain can crash in big or
small ways. A spectacular new show at the Smithsonian Institution (news -
web sites) will tell not only how it happens but what can be done about it.
``Brain - The World Inside Your Head'' opens Saturday at the Arts and
Industries Building for a six-month run and then travel for five years.
With a 700-year-old human skull showing signs of surgery and a cast of a
triceratops skull from 70 million years ago, with videos, large scale
models, interactive displays and virtual reality installations, the exhibit
appeals to children as well as adults.
At a workshop organized by the Smithsonian Associates, children - wearing
latex gloves - will be able to touch a human brain.
``Be a brain surgeon!'' urges one bit of virtual reality, with a caution to
follow instructions closely.
The show emphasizes that physical causes are behind mental illness and
argues that people should be tolerant of those who suffer from it.
``My husband, Robert Graham, has dyslexia; my nephew Matthew, has
dyslexia'' - a reading difficulty, said Oscar-winning actress Anjelica
Huston, recruited to help publicize the theme.
Dyslexia can be treated, though it's not be as simple as finding the right
screen on the computer and pressing the right key. Scientists still can't
say what causes it, so treatment is through training, not medicine or
surgery. Albert Einstein and Thomas A. Edison both suffered from it, before
it was recognized.
``How often have we told someone who is suffering from depression that they
should just 'snap out of it' and 'cheer up'? How often have we told a child
with dyslexia to just `buckle down' and do their work?'' Ms. Huston asked.
Abraham Lincoln suffered from severe depression.
``I am now the most miserable man living,'' a panel in the show quotes him
saying.
A pamphlet available to visitors says it is now believed that depression is
the sign of a chemical imbalance in brain.
``Over the past 50 years, there has been an enormous increase in
understanding of the brain and the nervous system,'' said J. Dennis
O'Connor, the Smithsonian's undersecretary for science.
Dr. Randall Kaye, director of Pediatric Health at Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE -
news) described the human brain at a news conference as looking like a
fist-sized cauliflower. It doesn't feel pain itself but sometimes doesn't
work right, he said, when things go wrong with its neurons - which are more
numerous than stars in the Milky Way.
In an interview, he added that there was no way to decide which mental
problems are the most serious - all can be more or less severe. He said
that according to a Pfizer survey, 38 percent of American adults - more
than one in every three - report that a family member suffers from a
brain-related disorder.
The exhibit is financed by a grant from Pfizer, a major pharmaceutical
firm. After it closes in Washington on Jan. 2, 2002, it will move to 15
other cities. The first stop will be the Oregon Museum of Science and
Industry in Portland, where it will be held from Jan. 26 through April 21.
Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information
contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten
or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated
Press.
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