Telescopic Therapy

Mercury, Jan/Feb 2002 Table of Contents

Image courtesy of Paul S. Walsh

by Paul S. Walsh

At a rehab facility in Washington State, learning astronomy has helped people with severe brain injuries build new lives.

The idea that we live in multiple universes has always been a difficult one for me to grasp. After all, I have enough trouble just grasping the one I wake up in every morning. By my simple count, I seem to be able to ascertain that there are just two universes available to me on any given day. There is the one we all generally refer to as "the universe." The other is the one inside my skull, the personal universe composed of my brain and all that goes on inside of it. My mind is a universe with its own unique laws. It sometimes seems completely unrelated to the other communal universe that we all share.

Both of these universes hold fast to their secrets and remain two of our most challenging frontiers. Both continue to surprise us with theory-shattering revelations. We used to think of the brain as being kind of like Plaster of Paris. Once it was broken, that was all she wrote. But in the world of cognitive rehabilitation for people who have experienced severe brain trauma, we are discovering that this old view is far from the truth. The human brain is much more fluid than we thought. New neural pathways can be stimulated to grow new ways of thinking and looking at the world. The brain just needs a healthy inflow of data. Brain cells dance with delight when they hear a certain kind of music – the kind of music that respects the individual, offers participation, and rewards effort.

Astronomy can perform this role. This is the story of my attempt to share my passion for astronomy with a community of individuals that society is largely unaware of and is perhaps a little frightened to acknowledge. In January 1999 I began teaching an astronomy class at the Delta Rehabilitation Center in Snohomish, Washington (40 kilometers northeast of Seattle). This is a facility for people who have experienced severe brain injuries. Everyone who has sat in on this class has been amazed at the ability of astronomy to inspire the students to learn, to remember, to inquire, to laugh, and to wonder.

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