Neuroscience 2001 Abstract
| Presentation Number: | 23.32 |
|---|---|
| Abstract Title: | WHAT DO POPULAR SCIENCE MAGAZINES TELL ABOUT THE BRAIN? |
| Authors: |
Batista, A. X.*1
; Houzel, J. C.2
; Herculano-Houzel, S.1
1Museu da Vida, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2Dept. Anatomy, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Primary Theme and Topics |
Other - Teaching of Neuroscience |
| Session: |
23. Other: teaching of neuroscience Poster |
| Presentation Time: | Sunday, November 11, 2001 11:00 AM-12:00 PM |
| Location: | Exhibit Hall BBB-70 |
| Keywords: | neuroscience literacy, communication, science magazines |
A recent survey on public neuroscience literacy (Herculano-Houzel, SFN 2000) indicated that the public does not master some basic principles such as modification of the brain during learning. Reading popular science magazines increases literacy among certain groups, but only for a few themes. One potential explanation for this differential effect is that coverage of different brain research areas in these magazines is uneven. To determine whether this is the case we surveyed the volume of publications over the last 15 years in journals registered in the PubMed catalog and in the brazilian popular magazine SuperInteressante, created in 1987.
The distribution of articles for each of 16 themes in the SuperInteressante magazine seems to follow closely the total number of scientific publications on the brain from 1987 to 2000. In both cases, disease, principles of functional and structural organization, and the senses are the top three themes, while emotion, pain, lateralization, and intelligence appear among the least represented. The largest discrepancies are found for articles on sleep and learning, respectively over- and underrepresented in the magazine relative to the proportion of scientific articles on these themes. Accordingly, reading of popular science magazines had a large effect on literacy about sleep (SFN 2000), while the public seems to ignore the relationship between learning and the brain. This confirms the importance of popular science magazines for promoting public neuroscience literacy, and call for changes in content to ensure that the public follows the progress of brain research.
The distribution of articles for each of 16 themes in the SuperInteressante magazine seems to follow closely the total number of scientific publications on the brain from 1987 to 2000. In both cases, disease, principles of functional and structural organization, and the senses are the top three themes, while emotion, pain, lateralization, and intelligence appear among the least represented. The largest discrepancies are found for articles on sleep and learning, respectively over- and underrepresented in the magazine relative to the proportion of scientific articles on these themes. Accordingly, reading of popular science magazines had a large effect on literacy about sleep (SFN 2000), while the public seems to ignore the relationship between learning and the brain. This confirms the importance of popular science magazines for promoting public neuroscience literacy, and call for changes in content to ensure that the public follows the progress of brain research.
Supported by CNPq-PIBIC and Faperj/Fiocruz.
Sample Citation:
[Authors]. [Abstract Title]. Program No. XXX.XX. 2001 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, 2001. Online.
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