ARTICLE: 'BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head' to Offer Mind-Boggling Experience At The New Detroit Science Center

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

'BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head' to Offer Mind-Boggling Experience At The 
New Detroit Science Center

Thursday September 25, 10:30 am ET

Opens Saturday, September 27, 2003

DETROIT, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Did you know that by the age of four, the 
human brain has reached full size? Or that
the brain makes up only two percent of the body's weight but uses 20 percent of 
its fuel? These, and many other mind-
boggling facts about the brain, will be explored when the traveling exhibit 
"BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head" opens
at The New Detroit Science Center on Sept. 27, 2003. The exhibit is made 
possible by Pfizer Inc and is produced by
Clear Channel Exhibitions in collaboration with the National Institutes of 
Health.

"BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head" provides a hands-on and up-close look at 
the human body's most essential and
fascinating organ by exploring its development, characteristics and function. 
The exhibit will be on display through
Jan. 4, 2004.

Designed for both adults and children, "BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head" uses 
virtual reality, video games, optical
illusions and hands-on displays to help show how the brain functions and how, 
like other parts of the body, it can
sometimes malfunction.

The exhibit also makes brain-based diseases and disorders, including mental 
illnesses like depression and schizophrenia
and neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, easier to 
understand. With useful information on treatment
for and research into neurological disease and mental illness, "BRAIN: The 
World Inside Your Head" seeks to break down
barriers to getting help. In the exhibit's closing section, visitors will find 
a wide range of materials that they can
take home with them on brain-based diseases and disorders to learn more about 
the issues facing their own families and
friends. With more than 44 million American adults suffering from diagnosable 
mental disorders each year and about two-
thirds of these not getting help, public education about the brain is 
critically important.

"Many people are still embarrassed and afraid to talk with their family and 
even a doctor about mental health concerns,
and this means that people who could be helped don't ask for help," said Dr. 
John Gillespie, Medical Director, Pfizer
Inc. "By educating families about the physical basis for these diseases, we 
hope to encourage communication between
family members and health care providers."

"The New Detroit Science Center is pleased to be able to share this exciting 
new exhibit experience that will help
demystify the workings and incredible capacity of the brain," said Shawn M. 
Kahle, president & CEO of The New Detroit
Science Center. "Working with the National Institutes of Health, Pfizer, as the 
national sponsor of the exhibit, has
ensured a top quality, hands-on learning experience that enriches our 
educational offering for visitors of all ages."

Science Center visitors will be able to enhance their exhibit experience by 
also enjoying The Brain Cabaret, as they
join characters "Imagination" and "Reason," who pop out of a Brain Storm and 
present sketch comedy based on the brain.
Audiences will learn more about memory with Gumshoe Lougo on a Brain Safari, 
become part of Team Brain and test their
knowledge with everyone's favorite game show -- The Brain Game!

The Science Center also will offer special, brain-related programs on Brain 
Discovery Days, exploring topics such as
depression, brain development, the effect of sleep on the brain and more. Brain 
Discovery Days will be offered every
other weekend starting Sept. 27.

Field trip groups can enhance their visits to the Science Center with many new, 
brain-related classroom programs,
including Brain Illusions, Brain Games, Making Connections and a special 
program for the pre-k and kindergarten age
group called Making Sense of Your Senses. For more information on field trips 
to The New Detroit Science Center, please
call 313-577-8400, Option 5.

Admission to "BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head" is $2 for adults or $1 for 
children ages 2-12 with the purchase of
general admission to the Science Center. General admission is $7 for adults and 
$6 for children ages 2-12 and seniors.
Science Center members receive free general admission and admission to the 
BRAIN exhibit. Special group rates are
available. Please call 313-577-8440, Option 5, for group information.

The New Detroit Science Center features 110,000 square feet of scientific 
exploration, including Michigan's only IMAX®
Dome Theatre; the Dassault Systemes Planetarium; the Ford Learning Resource 
Center; the DTE Energy Sparks Theater; the
DaimlerChrysler Science Stage; an 8,700 square-foot Science Hall for traveling 
exhibits; five exhibit laboratories --
General Motors Motion Laboratory, Dow Foundation Life Sciences Laboratory, 
Waves & Vibrations Laboratory, Matter &
Energy Laboratory and SBC Children's Gallery; and a Special Events Lobby. In 
July 2001, the Science Center completed a
$30 million renovation and expansion. It has served more than 800,000 visitors 
in its first two years. For more
information on The New Detroit Science Center please call 313-577-8400 or visit 
the website,


Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures and markets leading prescription 
medicines, for humans and animals, and
many of the world's best- known consumer products. The company is a leader in 
the discovery and development of
treatments for brain-based diseases and disorders.

Clear Channel Exhibitions provides state-of-the-art family educational 
experiences, and serves as a major development
partner with more than 200 leading museums and research institutions.

The National Institutes of Health, serving as a partner in exhibition 
production and content collaboration, is the
principal biomedical and behavioral research agency of the United States 
government and one of the world's foremost
medical research centers. The NIH, comprised of 27 separate institutes and 
centers, conducts a wide range of brain-
related research in areas including neurological disorders, substance abuse and 
addiction, and mental health disorders.

For a virtual tour of the exhibit, please visit 

Source: The New Detroit Science Center

SOURCE: Yahoo News (press release)


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