AMNH exhibit delves deep into the evolutionary history of the human brain (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th St.
Daily through August 14, timed-entry tickets $25 adults, $14.50 children
212-769-5200
www.amnh.org
“Brain: The Inside Story” takes visitors on an eye-opening, mind-expanding journey inside the development of the human brain, both on a historical and personal level. On view at the American Museum of Natural History through August 14, the multimedia interactive exhibit features brainteasers, brain scans, preserved brains, a massive eight-foot-tall model of the subcortical brain, a deep-brain stimulation implant, and many other objects that explore the charted and uncharted wonders of the three-pound mass of tissue residing within our craniums. Incorporating cutting-edge modern technology, “Brain: The Inside Story” begins with Daniel Canogar’s walk-through installation of firing neurons and continues with a trip through the senses, from large-scale videos depicting changing states of emotion to Devorah Sperber’s inverted thread-based images of famous works of art, from challenging games (good luck tracing that star!) for children and adults to examinations of speech, language, memory, decision making, color, and sleep. Divided into such sections as “Your Sensing Brain,” “Your Emotional Brain,” “Your Thinking Brain,” “Your Changing Brain,” and “Your Twenty-first-century Brain,” the exhibit delves into the evolution of the brain, the process of reasoning, and the science of studying the brain to better understand certain diseases and to find cures. The fun and fascinating show ends with a floor-based installation of MRIs of the brains of a student dancer auditioning at Juilliard, New York Knicks shooting guard Landry Fields, and master cellist Yo-Yo Ma, concentrating on how our brains react to different forms of thought and physical activity. Also on view at the American Museum of Natural History is “The World’s Largest Dinosaurs,” “Frogs: A Chorus of Colors,” “Picturing Science: Museum Scientists and Imaging Technologies,” “Tornado Alley,” “Journey to the Stars,” “Body and Spirit: Tibetan Medical Paintings,” and “Highway of an Empire: The Great Inca Road.”