The format "Frankfurt hat Hirn - live" (Frankfurt has brains) proved to be a big success. The casual presentation of knowledge about the brain caught an enthusiastic audience in the Jugendkirche, which was completely packed.

In the introduction, moderator Johannes Sassenroth (HR3) already praised the great skill of "presenting your own sophisticated research in five minutes in an understandable way". And the young researchers succeeded without exception. Christian Kell (Goethe University) described the influence of the different times of day on brain activity: for example, the liver stores sugar at night and releases it again during the day. Marcel Jüngling (MPI for Brain Research) impressed the audience with "86 million neurones that store our thoughts and memories". He compared the conversion of RNA into protein required for these processes with the food systems "Hello Fresh" (local and targeted) and Lieferando (global and standardised). 

FIAS postdoc Jens-Bastian Eppler explained our compartmentalised thinking: Using 14 syllables that merge into one another, he showed how our brain sorts them into three clear pigeonholes. His clear appeal: we need pigeonhole systems for categorisation and orientation, but we should consciously perceive and influence the sorting process, especially concerning humans.  

Two videos from the Hertie Foundation by Dr Mondino livened up the presentations: One was about our "gut feeling", namely the fact that the gut with its many neurones definitely contributes to our weal and woe as a "second brain". The second film introduced to different perceptions, using the example of colours - such as turquoise, which is sometimes perceived as green, sometimes as blue.

Johanna Rimmele (MPI for Empirical Aesthetics) deals with brain rhythms: For example, there is actually evidence that we can be "on the same wavelength". Mental magician Harry Keaton also picked up on this, enthralling the audience with thought experiments and fascinating magic tricks - even during the break. 

Visitors were also able to use this time to conduct their own experiments at the information booths of the participating institutes. At the FIAS exhibition, Sigrid Trägenap and Patricia Vogel introduced into the possibility to kick a ball into a goal using thoughts and brain electrodes - fascinating!

After the break, the programme continued with music: Daniela Sammler (MPI emp. Aesthetics) fascinated visitors with the human feeling for music, which is reflected in e. g. 69 known genes for beat. Matthias Grabenhorst (Ernst Strüngmann Institute) used the electric guitar to demostrate how the brain learns this and, above all, adapts motor skills to it at an early stage through probability predictions.

Vera Laub (Goethe University) described how brain cells and stem cells in particular migrate. 

FIAS doctoral student Jonas Elpelt used the example of a sock to show how we generalise and store key events and that the processes of how we forget things again (also to give room for new things) are barely understood.

Finally, magician Harry Keaton once again fascinated the audience with tricks and knowledge about the brain: a single brain processes more signals per day than all mobile phones in the world. If that's not a reason to take a closer look at the neurosciences - and to repeat this successful event sponsored by the Hertie Foundation.

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