The Groote Museum is divided into zones. Discover here what there is to see and experience in the zone about the brain.

The ladybugs didn’t invent the wheel. We did, with our über-IQ. We are the champions. Although... Using echo signals, dolphins communicate the size of a school of fish to each other. Tree roots let themselves be fed by fungi. Flocks of starlings swirl without collisions.

All organisms have their own challenges as well as their own clever methods to overcome them. Take us. We, as group animals, are socially intelligent. We function by sensing each other and responding appropriately. IQ? Forget about it!

Discover this zone

Swarm

Swarm

Although swarms look highly intelligent, there is no leader, no plan, no central neurological control.

Plant Intelligence

Orchidee

Can plants remember things? Do we consider plants intelligent? Listen to the story of the orchid.

Find the zone

This area is located on the ground floor in the West Hall of the museum.

From clay to cloud

This is a replica of a clay tablet from the ancient city of Lagaba located in Babylonia (current Iraq). It concerns a contract regarding the ripening of dates that was written on day 10 of the sixth month in year 28 of King Samsu-iluna, the son of the famous King Hammurabi. It started with clay tablets, such as this carved contract (Babylonia, 18th century BC). Then came paper and now we have servers. The invention of writing gave us an inexhaustible memory. Replica: TU Delft Original: Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO)

A straight face

Emotions are contagious. If someone looks at you with delight or disgust, your face automatically follows suit. As a result, you not only see what is going on in people, but you also feel it and react to it almost automatically. Who doesn't comfort a crying child? Emotions help us and other social animals to assess a situation. They strongly influence our behavior and we don't even realize it. Discover the complexity of facial muscles, which are responsible for the multitude of emotional expressions, with the facial scan in the museum.