"The Neuroscience of Game of Thrones", Samuel Wildman with Kaitlyn Casimo and Adam Lesiak

The Neuroscience of Game of Thrones: The Rains of Castamere with Presentation + Q/A on the Reality of Skin Changing w/ Kaitlyn Casimo, Ph.D. student
Thursday, November 17, 7PM, free and open to the public.

How are our sensory and motor systems connected? Interested in hearing about the psychological relationship between your brain and your body? Kaitlyn Casimo, a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at the University of Washington, will be joining us at Mad Art for a screening of The Rains of Castamere. Following the screening Casimo will present on the neuroscience of sensation and movement, and discuss real science related to skin changing and warging. Bring your favorite blanket and pillows to sit on. Snacks provided. Costumes encouraged but not necessary!

The Neuroscience of Game of Thrones: Book of the Stranger with Presentation + Q/A on Heredity and Genetic Mutations w/ Maester Atom Lesiak, Ph.D.
Monday, November 28, 7PM, free and open to the public.

What qualities and traits do we inherit from our ancestors? How and why do genetic mutations occur? Maester Atom Lesiak, Ph.D. Neuroscience, will be joining us at Mad Art for a screening of Book of the Stranger. Following the screening Lesiak will deliver a 20 minute presentation about heredity and the plausibility of the genetic lineage of the Targaryens and Danaery’s apparent genetic mutation – her ability to survive, unburnt, in extreme temperatures. There will be some fun experiments involving fire. Bring your favorite blanket and pillows to sit on. Snacks will be provided. Costumes encouraged but not necessary!

ABOUT PRESENTORS

Kaitlyn Casimo is a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at the University of Washington, where she is in her fourth year. She has a bachelor's from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she studied neuroscience, psychology, and theater. When Kaitlyn isn't in lab, she volunteers at Pacific Science Center and the Woodland Park Zoo, does science education and outreach, and writes interactive murder mystery dinner parties.

Maester Atom Lesiak, Ph.D. earned the links of their chain in the far reaches of Eastern Washington at the citadel of Wazzu. Specializing in the dark arts of removing brain cells and growing them in glass dishes, they learned to manipulate the genetic expression of these cells to learn the secrets of how these brain cells grow and make connections with other brain cells. Having spent hours on end listening and re-listening to the Game of Thrones/A Song Ice and Fire series on audiobook deep in the bowels of the laboratory, Atom’s colleagues granted them the honor of Maester, an honor far more prestigious than their doctorate degree in Neuroscience proved to be. After graduation, Atom was assigned to the Harborview branch of the UW, where they continue to manipulate brain cell function using methods that some have described as unnatural. Maester Atom loves nothing more than to serve the people of Seattle, educating the populous on the wonders of the scientific arts, and to facilitate discussions surrounding the theories and themes of the Game of Thrones and the Song of Ice and Fire series.