On April 26, Professor Kayla De Lorme’s Neuroscience Capstone students organized an event called “The Brain Wellbeing Workshop” at the Senior Center in St. Peter in order to implement some of of the knowledge they had learned over the course of the class. They focused mostly on the aging brain, having each student present some research about the brain to give an informational session to the older population about how their brains are constantly changing. They also expressed different ways that the senior attendees could prevent or even slow-down some of the negative changes occurring in their brains.
De Lorme started off the event by giving a short presentation about the brain and behavior changes (i.e. cortical shrinkage, memory decline, etc). They then broke off into four interactive stations run by each of the neuroscience capstone students that each of the seniors attended.
“The student groups prepared interactive sessions that provided brain-health tips based on current literature; these included the use of technology to improve cognition, nutritional advice for a better brain, the many neural benefits of music, and the use of dance exercise to improve cognition and prevent falls,” says student Brynn Makela ‘16. “The attendees sampled healthy food, tried new iPad apps, got up and danced, and played musical games.”
“Overall, it went very well,” says Professor De Lorme. “All of the participants were engaged in the presentation and the stations. I received a lot of positive feedback from the Senior Center coordinator and the attendees.”
“It was interesting to learn how much overlap there is between healthy brain activities and other more common healthy activities and also that there is a vast array,” says student Kelle Nette ‘16. “For example, anything from listening to the radio, to using a new app, to adding more kale to your diet can have positive effects on cognition. That, to me, is very interesting
.”
The main goal of the event was to highlight some of the neural and behavioral changes that occur as people age and then provide ideas and tools to help prevent or slow-down some of the negative changes. It seemed as though everyone had a blast and the event was very informational, says professor Kayla De Lorme.“One of the attendees actually called me at my office to say how great the workshop was and how wonderful and knowledgeable the students were.”
Contributed by Jenny Williams ’18 and Kerrie Humble ’17