On March 28, 2026, I presented work on hand gestures (hastas), language, and hand evolution, and brain evolution as part of Science Saturday: The Human Machine at Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute.
While my experience was unlike that at Mt. Sinai and Allerton NYPL, where I presented similar work, I still learned a bit about question-based pedagogy and group facilitation techniques.
Some images of the dance below (PC: Julia Martocchio) 

On the theme of hands and what hands do, I worked with three volunteers to help young students make finger puppets and trace their hands. 

I also made connections between dog paws and human hands, and talked about the role of the thumb in grasping objects and making tools by using my pup Jessie as an example (video of her digging and catching a ball with her mouth, and picture of her dewclaw below): 

One of the volunteers had this to say about my presentation:
"Sloka offered a true blend of art, science, and culture! Her presentation felt intentional and family-friendly, connecting Bharatanatyam, communication through hand gestures, and the evolution of the hand and brain. Sloka's ability to weave these threads into one clear, linear story was most impressive. It was creative, authentic, and rooted in her deep knowledge and experience. It was great to see children and caregivers learning hand gestures, creating collaborative art with their favorite one, dancing with origami finger puppets, and asking questions. Thank you, Sloka, for sharing your beautiful dance and knowledge with us!"

My submission, “Indian dance (Bharatanatyam) on the Brain”, has been accepted as a performance at SfNC 2026: Liberty to Create, taking place June 1–3, 2026, at FringeArts in Philadelphia. I look forward to presenting and sharing insights from the meeting in the next few months. 
More about: 

• Society for Neuroscience of Creativity: https://www.tsfnc.org/
• SfNC 2026 Liberty to Create: https://www.tsfnc.org/sfnc2026-liberty-to-create

I am looking forward to working with Science in Motion and the other judges for this science contest. 

After serving on a jury for the NeuroART contest at the European Academy of Neurology in 2024 and 2025,  I am glad to be serving again in this capacity in 2026. 

For Brain Awareness Week this year, I made two changes to my presentations. The first was the use of group facilitation techniques that I use for my creative aging sessions. The second was the adoption of a question-based pedagogy, where participant questions are embedded into the presentation from the very beginning. Using Bharatanatyam and its intersection with neuroscience, we generated many questions over the course of the talk at the Allerton Branch of the New York Public Library. I found this approach so much more participatory and democratic, with many questions building on other questions in the group! 
​Some fascinating questions that emerged were:

• "What is the oldest language? 
• "Why do some people dream in images rather than words"? 
• "How do we interpret the emotions of others"? 
• "If we speak multiple languages, why and how does the brain decide which language I dream in, and which language I think in"? 
• "Where does the intersection of culture and emotion live? Why are certain words more endearing in my native language?" 

I look forward to employing these techniques again as part of Science Saturday: The Human Machine at  Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute on March 28th, 2026. I will be talking about the link between hand and brain evolution!