Our brain health workshop at Fatima Community Mosque took place on 30 September 2025. It was a full morning session, running from 10am until the afternoon prayer, and we left with a lot to think about.
What We Did
The session brought together community members from the mosque for a workshop on brain health and neurotechnology. We started with a short presentation introducing EEG, explaining how it works and why diversity in brain research matters. From there, we moved into a live demonstration using a portable EEG headset, giving participants the chance to see the technology up close and ask questions.
A community member holding a high density EEG cap, brought for demonstration.
After the demonstration, we ran separate focus groups for men and women, each with a gender-matched facilitator. These groups gave participants space to talk openly about brain research, including what would make taking part feel more accessible and what concerns they had.
We also consulted with Islamic scholars to understand how EEG research might be considered from a religious and ethical perspective. Their input sits alongside the community focus group findings and will help us develop guidance that is both practically and religiously informed.
What We Are Taking Away
We heard a wide range of views across the session. Participants asked thoughtful questions and raised things we had not fully anticipated. We are still working through everything we heard, and we want to take time to do that carefully before drawing conclusions.
What we can say is that the conversations were genuine and the engagement was real. The session felt like an exchange, not just a data collection exercise.
What Comes Next
We are committed to bringing our findings back to the community before we share them more widely. A future session at the mosque will give participants the opportunity to hear what we have learned and respond to our interpretations.
We look forward to sharing the outputs of this research in the coming months.
A Note of Thanks
We are very grateful to Fatima Community Mosque for hosting us and for the openness of everyone who took part. This kind of collaboration takes trust, and we do not take that lightly.
