How does pain actually develop and what is it good for? Prof. Angelika Lampert addressed these and other questions at the pre-Christmas Children's University lecture on 16 December 2022 in the C.A.R.L. lecture theatre at RWTH Aachen University.
This lecture was already planned for 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Corona situation. Her lecture took place directly after the 100th Children's University Lecture with Armin Maiwald (father of the “Sendung mit der Maus”), which was a special challenge for Prof Lampert.
The children had the opportunity to send an e-mail with questions to Prof. Lampert, even before the lecture: How does pain develop? Why does pain exist? Are there people who do not feel pain? How do painkillers work? Etc.
There was also some Christmas spirit in the lecture hall. But while lighting the candle in the Advent arrangement, Prof Lampert burnt her finger. With the support of her team, a super microscope, a bell as a pain signal and delicious biscuits, her pain and the children's questions about pain were explored. The fact that pain originates in the head and the role of nerve fibres, prefontal and somatosensory cortex, limbic system and the sodium channel was explained for the 400 children (between 8 and 12 years of age) in a playful way.
At the end, there was even chocolate for everyone - an all-round successful event.
Further articles from the Aachener Zeitung on the Children's University with Prof. Angelika Lampert can be read here:
