I’m a neuroscientist, get me out of here!

This Tuesday evening will see neuroscientists going head to head, or brain to brain, live on stage at the Barbican for ‘I’m a neuroscientist, get me out of here!’. The event is part of the Barbican’s Wonder Season, supported by the Wellcome Trust. Comedian and songstress Helen Arney will be the host, pitching questions from the audience to five real-life practicing scientists, culminating in a public vote-off. It’s up to the audience to decide who will be crowned the ruling neuroscientist as the contestants compete to prove who has the greatest grey matter, and try to avoid brain strain.

We’ve put together a break-down of the line-up, to introduce the contestants and give you a taste of what’s in store at the live event.

In the Yellow corner…

Sarah Jarvis

Who?

Sarah works as part of a research group in the Neural Circuits Lab at Imperial College London, looking at the reasons why the brain is structured the way that it is.

Research?

The research group use cutting edge technology including computer modeling and a new technique called optogenetics. By using brain cells which have been engineered to contain a light-sensitive bacterial protein, optogenetics allows researchers to manipulate the cells using light. Sarah uses the data for computer models of neural networks and tests different scenarios to explore why the network of cells in our brain are connected in the way they are.

What do you like most about your work?

“The thrill that comes from when an experiment goes right, and you feel you understand a little more about how the brain works”

If you could swap brains with anyone who would it be?

“Richard Feynman -I really like the way that he saw the world. He played bongo drums as well. Bongo drums and physics, you can’t get a better combination than that.”

In the White corner…

Mark Horowitz

Who?

Hailing from Australia, Mark is a training psychiatrist originally from Sydney.

Research?

Locked away in the depths of King’s College London, Mark looks at the molecular causes of depression using a stem cell model of the hippocampus – the region of the brain associated with new memory, learning, and emotion. His work focuses on the effects that inflammation, stress hormones and antidepressants have on the brain.

In the Blue corner…

Jen Todd Jones

Who?

Jen was the ‘Brain Zone’ winner from the online event of I’m a scientist get me out of here. She scooped the £500 prize to communicate her work to schools.

Research?

Her research looks at how we produce, learn and understand language, focusing on the differences between those people who have a single mother tongue compared to bilinguals. By comparing the two groups Jen aims to find out whether the process by which we deconstruct words is automatic and if it’s affected by the meanings and contexts of the words themselves.

 In the Green corner…

Lauren Stewart

Who?

Lauren is the director of the Music, Mind and Brain master’s degree course at Goldsmith’s, University of London.

Research?

Her research spans three main areas involving music and the brain. In the first, she looks at congenital amusia – a condition in which people are unable to recognise or tell pieces of music apart, and may even hear it as noise – and explores the mechanisms which underpin this condition. In another project, in collaboration with the BBC and funded by the Leverhulme Trust, she looks at ‘earworms’ and the concept of how and why a tune gets stuck in your head. Lauren’s other area of interest is exploring how learning to play a musical instrument changes the brain.

What do you like most about your work?

“I like the fact that I’m looking into something uniquely human, that a lot of people engage in and are passionate about”

If you could swap brains with anyone who would it be?

“Evelyn Glennie – Scottish percussionist and musician who lost her hearing at an early age. Playing barefoot, Evelyn feels the vibrations of the instruments she plays, rather than hearing them.”

In the Red corner…

Pascal Durrenburger

Who?

Pascal is a self-professed ‘Brain Scientist’ who teaches on the master’s in Immunology at Imperial College London. He may be the dark horse of the competition, as he hasn’t featured in the earlier rounds or the online events.

Research?

His research focuses on the central nervous system, specifically the degeneration and regeneration of the brain. Pascal has published work around many neurological conditions including Schizophrenia, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

‘I’m a neuroscientist, get me out of here!’ takes place at 7.30pm on Tuesday 9 April. For more details on this and other Wonder events visit the Barbican website. Or you can follow the events throughout the week using the hash tag #wonderseason.

Going along to a Wonder event this weekend? We’d love to hear what weird and wonderful things you get up to. You can tell us all about it using the hash tag #wonderseason.