When I was going to the brain museum, I was expecting medical terminology, a lot of information, and an academic approach. Since I study psychology at university, it was interesting, though I didn't expect any strong emotions.
So imagine my surprise when, according to my navigator, I arrived at... a shopping mall. Usually in such places "museums" are purely entertainment-oriented, with lots of souvenir merchandise. I've fallen for that trick several times already.
In the end, besides gaining new knowledge (supported by visual models and a quality audio guide), I learned to control objects with the "power of thought." The fact is the brain works in four modes: gamma, beta, alpha, and delta rhythms. There are devices that pick up those frequencies and let you experience them yourself — real scientific magic.
It's especially pleasant when at first you can't focus on a certain state, but then you get better and better.
Most importantly — the emotions: the exhibition is small but interesting. I didn't know many things, for example that besides neurons there are glial cells and what important function they perform.
After several vivid exhibits with the audio guide you enter a room with puzzles and glasses that flip everything you see. It's the "through a baby's eyes" quest — there are several tasks that seem impossible to do. For example, I couldn't draw either a circle or a triangle (looking at the marker; drawing from memory doesn't count). Not to mention writing the word "eschatological."
After that room you'll be invited to test the power of focused attention yourself. You'll control mechanisms using the beta waves generated by your brain. My little spider only moved when I looked at it very intently and recited poems in my head. You can also compete in attentiveness — there's a special "mental football." The female guide beat me several times; I think I only won when she eased up.
After the visit I walked through the park by the Young Spectator Theatre and enjoyed an unusual state — I had learned to "get my brain working"; I could always do it, but here I trained myself to summon that feeling on my own and stay in it.
Who will be most interested — children and their parents. Those who will find nothing new in terms of knowledge are medical professionals with education in brain science.
