‘Changing Minds’: Textile exhibition to dispel the myths and stigmas surrounding brain disorders
Sixth-form textile students from Peter Symonds College have worked with scientists from the University’s Southampton Neuroscience Group (SoNG) on the ‘Changing Minds’ project to break down barriers and stimulate thinking and dialogue about mental health conditions.
Dr Shmma Quraishe, Dr Joanne Bailey and Professor Lindy Holden-Dye from SoNG worked with Beki Vaile, textiles teacher at Peter Symonds, to help the students understand the molecular and morphological changes occurring in the brains of the people affected by neurological conditions.
The students then interpreted the science and represented different diseases using very imaginative and thought-provoking mediums of art including paintings, garments and sculptures.
Shmma Quraishe, a research scientist at the University of Southampton and coordinator of the project, says: “A very important aspect of the project is that the design is carefully thought through in terms of the underlying neurobiology and the impact of the disease. Their work provides an opportunity to explore important societal issues such as mental health in an unconventional way.”
To celebrate the fantastic art work produced by the students, there is a free, private exhibition of the pieces on Thursday 26 May from 5 to 6.30pm in the Textiles Studio at Peter Symonds College, Winchester. This will be an opportunity to discuss the work with the students and scientists involved in this collaborative project.
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Dr Joanne Louise Bailey BSc Hons, PhD
Dr Joanne Bailey is BBSRC Research Fellow within Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton.
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Professor Lindy Holden-Dye BSc, MSc, PhD, FRSB, FBPhS
Professor Lindy Holden-Dye holds a personal Chair in Neuroscience within Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton. Her interests focus on fundamental processes of neuronal communication and she has established research expertise in invertebrate preparations. Through this interest she has contributed to research relevant to a number of important areas of neuroscience that inform understanding of mental health. Her expertise in invertebrate neuroscience, and in particular nematode neural systems and the model genetic organism Caenorhabditis elegans positions her well to participate in drug discovery and mode of action programmes for novel antiparasitics. For the last two decades she has collaborated with industry to improve prospects for parasitic nematode control. Her research group identified the molecular target for the resistance breaking anthelmintic emodepside showing it acts through a calcium-activated K+ channel SLO-1 to bring about neuromuscular paralysis in nematode worms. This discovery has paved the way for the pursuit of new approaches to the treatment of human filarial disease. The experimental approaches deployed in her research group encompass genetics through to whole animal physiology and incorporate novel methods for tracking animal behaviour and signal processing.
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