We welcomed thousands of visitors from Thursday 2 to Saturday 4 March, in the Wills Memorial Building, Bristol, in order to give them an insight into the wonders of the human brain. 

This year also marked the 20th Anniversary of Bristol Neuroscience and the return of the festival after being cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. 

Stalls included things such as a brain art exhibition which displayed work from schools and community groups across Bristol, as well as the chance to talk to neuroscience researchers, clinicians and local organisations. 

Our guests also were able to get stuck into a variety of hands-on exibitions and activities including psychology experiments, brain games, and a voyage through the brain in collaboration with Bristol's Explorer Dome. 

The event ended with a public talk titled 'How psychedelic medicine is changing our understanding of psychiatric disorders, their treaments, and fundamental biology of the brain' by David Nutt, Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology. 

In the lecture, Professor David Nutt discussed the latest discoveries from clinical studies about how psychedelic drugs affect the brain and the exciting clinical potential these drugs offer. Professor Emma Robinson will focus on studies using psychedelics to explore the fundamental biology of emotional behaviour, what we have learnt about how antidepressants may work from studying these drugs and even what this may mean for the underlying causes of depression.

A big thank you to each of our student and staff helpers, as well as all of our visitors.