As part of our Hello Brain! exhibition, we recently invited mums in London to participate in two artist-led workshops that explored changes in the brain in maternity through art, science and their own lived experience.

The interactive workshop was co-created with local mums who had helped with a previous participatory project on mama brain and the science behind it. On their return, and with support by Crick scientist Bradley Jamieson from the State-dependent neural processing lab, they had the opportunity to explore some of their lived experience of becoming mothers and their own experience of mama brain. They also asked questions to Bradley on the science behind the changes in their brain when going through pregnancy.

This was a really humbling opportunity to see how science and society interact. It was great understanding how those with the lived experience of pregnancy and motherhood view the science we do, and learning from them how it related back to their own lives. It puts a new perspective on the relevance of our work and it’s inspiring to see it naturally going on in people outside the lab.

– Bradley Jamieson, postdoctoral fellow, State-dependent neural processing laboratory

It was lovely to be around so many wonderful people and share our experiences as a mother.

– Dawn, Mama Brain workshop participant

Hello Brain!

Remember that our free public exhibition, Hello Brain!, is open in the Manby Gallery until December 2024. It highlights Crick research aiming to advance our understanding of the brain, from the early beginnings of neuroscience to recent discoveries and technological progress.