Visit to Douglas Mental Health University Institute

During Interdisciplinary week of 2024, I visited the Douglas institute. The activity had three components: a presentation from 2 doctoral students about their research, a visit to the brain bank, and a Q&A with a legal psychiatrist. The whole activity was amazing and helped me confirm my interest in psychology! During the presentations, I learned about neurogenesis and how it may actually occur during adulthood as well as infancy (contrary to popular belief!). I also learned more about brain lateralization and how each hemisphere of the brain has different functions, and how looking into this could help in the case of many mental illnesses, such as depression. The brain bank visit was my favourite part, because I had never seen anything like it! I was really surprised that they store the brains in regular Tupperware containers... We also got to see many of the machines they use to cut the brain pieces and examine them, and we even got to touch a few animal brains! Lastly, I got to learn a lot more about psychiatry and specifically the legal aspect, and hear about patient interactions and how to feel safe / protect your own mental health in this profession. I am so happy I participated in this activity because I learned so much and am even more excited to study psychology in university!
*I couldn't take any pictures in the brain bank, so the cover is the only picture I took!*