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NW Noggin: Axons & Arpilleras – Addressing trauma and supporting community across disciplines and national boundaries

GRIESAR, W.S.* * *** ****, LEAKE, J. * *** ARANEDA, C. ** ****

“No happiness or pain, no more forgetting”
― Gabriela Mistral

Science needs investment and diverse perspectives. Integrating arts in STEM (STEAM) encourages more people to get involved.

Nonprofit NW Noggin (nwnoggin.org) organizes undergraduates and graduates to collaborate, build community networks and inspire people about neuroscience and art. Volunteers benefit from work across disciplines and institutions, serve as “near peer” role models, gain skill explaining research, and think creatively about careers. We’ve met over 45,000 academic priority K-12 students, homeless youth, incarcerated youth and members of the public since 2012!

Extreme inequality defines the United States, with devastating brain, health and social consequences, as more people struggle to access food, water, education, public transit, healthcare and housing.

Concentrated wealth isolates those with extravagant resources from the broader community. Isolation is worsened by degrading rhetoric from political leaders and pundits who protect privileges, often by dehumanizing others.

Inequality can also lead to the violation of human rights, and violence.

Valparaíso, Chile, home to both a long history of neuroscience research and astonishing art traditions, is currently targeted by a repressive and authoritarian government, whose leader, billionaire Sebastian Piñera, has declared “war” (guerra) on those protesting injustice.

Noggin partnered with Chilean artist/educator Cecilia Araneda to teach how the art of “arpilleras,” the sewing of embroidery and patchwork to depict aspects of life, has helped many express traumatic experiences and contribute to the memory of significant national violations of human rights.

We participated in a public radio interview and displayed arpilleras and human brains at Street 14 Café during an “Art Walk” in Astoria, Oregon, and discussed neuroscience research on stress, trauma, memory, dehumanized perception, resilience and recovery.

We then presented and crafted our own arpilleras at p:ear, a critical community center for support of Portland Oregon youth who lack access to safe, stable housing, while answering questions about behavior and the brain. NW Noggin was p:ear’s Community Partner awardee in 2020.

Building excitement and awareness of discoveries, educational options and careers through arts-integrated outreach across institutional, international and generational lines trains new scientists to collaborate, engages more communities, and increases awareness and support for investment in brain research and the arts.


Department of Psychology, Portland State University; * NW Noggin (nwnoggin.org); ** Department of University Studies, Portland State University; *** Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University; **** Colectivo Memoarte