This year’s theme is COMMUNICATION

Billions of neurons in your brain are talking to each other right now. Want to learn more about their language? Join us for the Night of Science at NIMH!

Friday, 25 September, from 5:00 PM at the National Institute of Mental Health (Topolová 748, Klecany)

Getting here is easy: take bus 371 or 374 from Kobylisy metro station. The journey takes just 15 minutes. Get off at the Klecany, U Hřbitova stop and walk uphill towards the water tower. If you are coming by car, you can park right next to the building or in the nearby car park by the cemetery.

Admission is FREE. Funded by the European Union as part of the MSCA Metamorphosis project.

PROGRAMME

5:00–8:00 PM | Workshop

WALKING IN VIRTUAL REALITY: A VR MOVEMENT PLATFORM

Come and try walking in virtual reality! NIMH’s VR Research Centre will demonstrate the KAT Walk VR movement platform, which translates your steps into movement in a virtual environment.

5:00–6:00 PM | Talk

THE BRAIN AND THE SENSE OF SELF: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THINGS GO WRONG?

Filip Španiel, MD, PhD, Head of the First-Episode SMI Research Centre at NIMH, will explore the mysteries of schizophrenia.

5:20, 6:20 and 8:00 PM | Workshop

LOST IN TRANSLATION: HOW NEUROSTIMULATION RESTORES THE BRAIN’S NORMAL RHYTHM

Experience brain cell stimulation using modern neuroscience technology. This painless method uses magnetic fields or weak electrical currents to influence brain activity and is used to treat mental disorders. Booking is required. 

5:20, 6:20 and 8:00 PM | Tour

NEUROSTIMULATION LABORATORIES

Would you like to see where and under what conditions neurostimulation treatments using magnetic fields or electrical currents take place? Book a tour of the neurostimulation laboratories, led by researcher Mgr. Natálie-Anna Böhmová. The tour is part of the workshop Lost in Translation: How Neurostimulation Restores the Brain’s Normal Rhythm, which requires advance booking.

5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 PM | Workshop and tour

IN THE LABORATORY: HOW DO CELLS COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER?

Want to find out how cells communicate with each other? Join us in the NIMH laboratories to explore the answer. Researchers Tereza Totková and Daniela Nováková will lead the workshop in the preclinical research laboratories.  Booking is required. 

5:00–8:00 PM | Workshop

DEMONSTRATIONS OF VR APPLICATIONS FOR ANXIETY DISORDERS

Come and try VR applications developed at NIMH that train memory and attention. Put your fear of heights, confined spaces or flying to the test in a virtual city.  Booking is required. 

6:00–7:00 PM | Talk

ALL ABOUT PSYCHEDELICS: DRUGS, MEDICINES AND TEA PARTIES WITH THE GODS

At NIMH and elsewhere in Czechia, ketamine, psilocybin (“magic mushrooms”) and LSD are being tested as treatments for depression, anxiety or sclerosis. How is this possible? What else is planned? What effects do these substances have, what have we discovered so far, and what might we learn from thousands of years of psychedelic use? A talk by researcher Marek Nikolič, MSc.

Café NUDZ will also be open, offering a place to relax and enjoy light refreshments.

Curious about what we have in store? Follow the event on the Night of Science website and the Facebook event page.