It's not every day that young people get the opportunity to see a frog brain or the wrinkles of the human brain up close.

On Saturday afternoon, dozens of children did just that.

Students from the Medical College of Georgia's Neuroscience program sponsored a brain awareness event at the National Science Center's Fort Discovery to celebrate the end of National Brain Awareness Week.

Booths were set up on the two floors of Fort Discovery for games and presentations about the five senses, memory and other functions of the brain, said Limor Raz, one of the coordinators of the event.

The event gave children the opportunity to explore the functions of the brain, Ms. Raz said. Many of the more than 50 children who attended had never seen the human brain before, she said.

"Everyone's aware that we have a brain, of course, but they don't know the ends and outs of it," she said.

"We tried to keep it simple and fun to entertain, but the main goal was education."

Joshua Lowe, 10, said he most enjoyed seeing a real frog and human brain. He also enjoyed mastering the memory game.

"I learned that the more wrinkles you have in your brain the smarter you are," he said. "I really liked seeing how the brain works."

Adults enjoyed learning about the brain as much as the children did, said Nancy Carr, Joshua's grandmother.

"We like to introduce them to things like this," Mrs. Carr said. "I know they get it at school, but it's good to have it hands on."

Last week, doctors from MCG visited six Richmond and Columbia county schools to present presentations similar to those at Saturday's event.

Ms. Raz said she hoped the children's interest would go beyond the week's festivities.

"It's important to know how the brain works, so I hope we reached at least one," she said. "I think we turned them onto neuroscience."

Reach Stephanie Toone at (706) 823-3215 or stephanie.toone@augustachronicle.com.