Program mixes art performances with information about the brain

Here are some facts about the human brain: It weighs, on average, 3 pounds, or about 2 percent of a person's body weight; has about 100 million cells; and has three parts, the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the brain stem.

It is facts like these that the Cape Girardeau-based International Brain Foundation wants to make known to the public.

As part of that effort, tonight the foundation is holding an educational and entertaining program about the brain and creativity.

"The Organ of Artistic Expression: Creativity and the Brain" is free to attend and will feature performances and appearances by saxophonist Alisha Bohnert, the Southeast Guitar Ensemble, singer Lauren Simms, a ballet performance by the Academy of Dance Arts, author Morley Swingle, artists Craig Thomas and Lindsey Holman, among others.

In between performances, educational information about the brain will be presented.

"To be able to educate people, you need to capture their attention," said foundation spokeswoman Courtney Verhines. "It's educational, it's fun and it's free," she said of the presentation's appeal.

The International Brain Foundation was created in 2001 by Dr. Scott Gibbs, a neurosurgeon who owns the Brain and NeuroSpine Clinic and is the director of Regional Brain and Spine Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Gibbs is also behind the brain balloon, a large hot-air balloon shaped like a brain that travels to places around the country for educational purposes. It was because of this balloon that the foundation decided to name April as brain awareness month in Southeast Missouri.

Verhines said they decided in January while they were booking balloon visits that "if they're having something in all these communities, why can't we have something like that in Cape Girardeau?"

"Creativity and the Brain" is the final presentation for brain awareness month.

Presentations about the brain have also been given at Clippard Elementary School, the Osage Community Centre and Immaculate Conception School and have covered issues from how the brain changes as it ages to how to live with a neurological disorder.

"We felt like we needed variety," Verhines said. The foundation also felt "our last presentation should be an uplifting celebration of who we are. Your brain is what makes you, you."

kalfisi@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182