Volume 21: No. 4, April 2007

APA Sponsors FABBS Science Café
by Nicolle Singer

From left to right: Steven Breckler, Nicholas Schiff, Sharon Stephens Brehm, James Pomerantz, Thomas Wallsten, Daniel Wegner

The Foundation for the Advancement of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS) held a public outreach event on Monday, March 26, 2007. This event, sponsored by the APA Science Directorate, was the third in the FABBS Science Caf é series, intended to provide free and low cost public education on "hot" issues related to brain science.

This Caf é was held at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) headquarters in Washington, DC. It featured two speakers, Nicholas Schiff, MD (Cornell University) and Daniel Wegner, PhD (Harvard University), who focused their talks on understanding the mysteries of the brain and mind in the aftermath of Terri Schiavo and related cases.

The Science Directorate used the occasion to roll out a new pair of publications on functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). These booklets highlight some of the most exciting fMRI research taking place at the intersection of psychology and physiology in four sections: Improving Lives, Treating Disorders, Addressing Social Problems, and Exploring the Mind.

The Science Café enjoyed standing-room-only attendance

Through outreach activities such as the publication of these booklets, the Science Directorate hopes to increase public understanding of fMRI and psychological science. The booklets are available free of charge at the Science Directorate website (www.apa.org/science).

The presentations given by Schiff and Wegner, along with more photos from the event, can be viewed at the FABBS website (www.fabbs.org).