Brain Awareness Week

Stress and Anxiety: From looming exams to financial hardships, stress and anxiety are parts of modern life that affect people of all ages.

Learn the basics with Stress: An Overview.

Saddle up and ride into the wild west of stress with Shootin' from the Hippocampus.

Explore an interactive lesson with insight into the fight or flight response and cell communication: Amazing Cells from the University of Utah.

Brittany Smith and the Society for Neuroscience 2012 Brain Awareness Video Contest

Learning and Memory: From song lyrics to former addresses, our brains hold a seemingly endless supply of information. Why are we able to learn, store, and recall certain things with such ease, but then forget where we left the keys?

Learn the basics with Different Facets of Memory.

Watch a video about Neuroplasticity, your brain’s ability to change and adapt to challenges in the environment.

Find ideas for hands-on activities from BrainU.org, supported by the University of Minnesota and the National Institutes of Health.

Elizabeth and Neil Losin, and the Society for Neuroscience 2011 Brain Awareness Video Contest.

Addiction: Addiction is a chronic brain disease that affects millions of people, and drug abuse is estimated to cost the United States more than $600 billion each year.

Learn the basics with Addiction: An Overview.

Watch a video about how marijuana affects brain function, impacting short-term memory and motor control: Marijuana Blows Your Mind.

Explore hands-on activity ideas and videos from NIDA for Teens, from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Wheeler, et al. Journal of Neuroscience 2013.

Learn about the many ways people around the world celebrate Brain Awareness Week, and find tips and resources on how you can get involved.

This year marks the 23nd anniversary of Brain Awareness Week, a worldwide celebration of the brain and nervous system that will run March 12-18. The week will feature events ranging from family-friendly activities to public lectures. Whether you plan on attending or hosting one of these events, BrainFacts.org can help you learn about the brain with engaging, hands-on activities.

Here, we’ve curated a few of our favorite resources on three topics: stress and anxiety, learning and memory, and addiction. Each has general information about the topic, as well as videos and ideas for hands-on activities. To find out more, browse through the images and their descriptions and click on the link in each caption to read the full articles.

About the Author

Emily K. Dilger, PhD

Emily is the former manager of BrainFacts.org. With a PhD in neuroscience, she is interested in exploring ways in which to engage children in science so as to encourage their life-long curiosity.