One in five Canadians will be affected by a neurologic or psychiatric disorder, which translates into a major draw on healthcare dollars. However, advances in research are finding ways to help those with neurological and psychiatric disorders.

As a way of enlightening the public about progress in brain research, McMaster University undergraduate students are hosting Come Pick Our Brains, an evening featuring an outdoor interactive video display projected outdoors on the side of the Arthur Bourns Building. The video will feature pictures, information and facts, including an interactive image of the brain.

Undergraduate students will conduct short “brain tests” for memory and illusions on the public, and will answer questions about the brain and neuroscience.

“Alzheimer's, autism, brain development and behavioural disorders — they are all areas that are under the neuroscience microscope these days,” says Kathryn Murphy, professor of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour, and one of the program's organizers “The brain is the most complex organ in our bodies: It defines who we are and how we function.”

Come Pick Our Brains takes place Thursday, May 31 at dusk (about 9:30 p.m.) outside the Arthur Bourns Building, located near the corner of Main St. West and Cootes Drive on the campus of McMaster University.