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VERI staff showcase eye research at Chelmsford Science Festival

Published: 14 November 2022 at 12:08

Dr Raju Sapkota showing a young Chelmsford Science Festival attendee the different parts of the brain using a brain model

Academics from VERI shared their knowledge of visual short-term memory by running fun activities at the Chelmsford Science Festival's Family Science Day on 15 October 2022.

Dr Raju Sapkota (Senior Research Fellow, right, demonstrating parts of the eye to a young Science Festival attendee) and Monika McAtarsney-Kovacs (PhD student) ran drop-in sessions where members of the public could learn more about visual short-term memory.

They explained how visual short-term memory is different from other types of memory, which brain areas are associated with it, and the new visual short-term memory test programme that we developed in our lab for identifying dementia and cognitive impairment early.

Participants were able to ask questions and test their own memory through some fun memory tasks developed from the tests used in our current research project. The visitors (including children, young adults and elderly people) were engaged and enjoyed the session, feeding back that:

"This session is very interesting and informative- more of such events in the future will be very welcoming."
"Oh, I didn’t know there are so many different kinds of memory."
"I am always willing to participate in any research like yours that has the potential to benefit patients with memory problems."
Monika McAtarsney-Kovacs sitting at a table at the Chelmsford Science Festival, ready to demonstrate visual short-term memory tests.

ARU hosted the first-ever Chelmsford Science Festival from 12-18 October. Events included free public lectures, workshops, exhibitions, drop-in sessions, hands-on activities, and a Gaia artwork in Chelmsford Cathedral.

Left: Monika McAtarsney-Kovacs at the Chelmsford Science Festival, ready to demonstrate visual short-term memory tests.