NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTER
Volume 12, Issue 4 (April, 2008)

____________________________________________________________

Welcome to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter.

Here is what you will find in this issue:

1. What's New at Neuroscience for Kids
2. Neuroscience for Kids Site of the Month
3. 2008 University of Washington Brain Awareness Week
4. Reebok Agrees to Pay $1,000,000 Penalty for Lead Content in Bracelets
5. Radio Disney - Brain Myths
6. Media Alert
7. Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
8. Support Neuroscience for Kids
9. How to Stop Your Subscription
____________________________________________________________

1. WHAT'S NEW AT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

Neuroscience for Kids had several new additions in March including:

A. March Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news123.html
B. 2008 UW Brain Awareness Week Open House
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/baw08oh.html
C. When RED Means Stop (not Slow Down)
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/lights.html
D. Treasure Hunt #7
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/hunt7.html
E. Animated/Musical Slide Show of Drawing Contest Winners
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/flash/dcon.wmv

In March, 9 new figures were added and 77 pages were modified.
__________________________________________________________

2. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS "SITE OF THE MONTH"

The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for April is "Neurons: Animated Cellular and Molecular Concepts." (Site not working.)

= This month's selection is a fantastic, animated "textbook" all about neurons. Dr. Patricia Stewart and her colleagues at the University of Toronto created the site with eight different chapters: Anatomy of a Neuron; Axonal Transport; Ion Channels and Pumps; Resting Membrane Potential; Action Potential; Neurotransmitter Release; Postsynaptic Mechanisms and Removal of Neurotransmitter. Each chapter has seven to ten different panels with interactive drawings to help you understand how neurons work.

Although some of the concepts described on the Web site are complex, the clear diagrams and simple text makes the information easy to understand. Some of the animations can be downloaded and displayed in PowerPoint presentations as long as people give credit to the original authors and the material is used for non-commercial purposes and not altered, transformed or built on.
__________________________________________________________

3. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK

Brain Awareness Week (BAW) was celebrated at the University of Washington with classroom visits by neuroscientists and an open house for 700 elementary, middle and high school students. On March 3, these students came to the 11th Annual University of Washington BAW Open House. To start the Open House, I led the students through an interactive, multimedia "Brain Assembly" to learn about the nervous system. Students then visited exhibits set up by students, faculty and staff from various University of Washington departments and other organizations. The Open House was supported by the Hope Heart Institute, Pacific Cascade Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience, University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials, and the UW Student Activities & Union Facilities. Visit the UW BAW Open House web site to see some photographs of the event:

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/baw08oh.html

I also visited several schools in March for BAW: Highline High School, Meridian Park Elementary School, the Bear Creek School and Brookside Elementary School. During my visits, I talked about my research, what the brain looks like, how neurons work and how the brain gets fooled. The students also had plenty of time to work with hands-on activities that I brought to their classrooms.

BAW was celebrated all over the world! Visit the DANA Alliance for Brain Initiative Web site to see what went on during BAW:

http://www.dana.org/

Next year, BAW will take place March 16-22, 2009.
__________________________________________________________

4. REEBOK AGREES TO PAY $1,000,000 PENALTY FOR LEAD CONTENT IN BRACELETS

On March 18, 2008, Reebok International Ltd., makers of athletic shoes and clothing, agreed to pay a $1,000,000 penalty for violating the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. The company apparently imported and distributed bracelets with high levels of lead, a substance that can damage the brain if it gets inside the body.
_________________________________________________________

5. RADIO DISNEY - BRAIN MYTHS

On April 13, 2008, the Seattle Radio Disney station (AM 1250) will air their "Kids Care" program with an interview I did with them. During the show, host Dayna and I talk about brain myths. Here are a few of the questions we discuss: Do people really use only 10% of their brains? Are people right brained or left brained? Do we yawn because we need more oxygen? Is the brain quiet when we sleep?

If you want to hear the interview, you will have to get up early on April 13 -- "Kids Care" airs at 6:30 am (and only on the Seattle station)!
_________________________________________________________

6. MEDIA ALERT

A. On April 25 (9 am to 5 pm; Friday) and April 26 (10 am to 4 pm; Saturday), the University of Washington will hold the 2008 Health Sciences Open House on its Seattle campus. Faculty, students and staff will host hands-on, interactive exhibits and demonstrations of research from many different medical fields. At this open house, I will present "Journey Into the Brain" on April 26 at 11 am and 2 pm. My presentation will be very similar to the one I did last month at the Brain Awareness Week Open House. The Health Sciences Open House is free and open to the public.

B. Dr. John Medina, author of the new book "Brain Rules," will speak at Town Hall Seattle on Thursday, April 10, 2008, at 7:30 pm. Ticket are $5.

C. "Placebo Nation: Just Believe" by Sharon Begley (Newsweek magazine, March 17, 2008) discusses the power of the "sugar pill."

D. "Mysteries and Complications" by Claudia Kalb (Newsweek magazine, March 24, 2008) discusses the growing public interest in autism.

E. "Why Women Need Better Sleep" by Alice Park (Time magazine, March 31, 2008).

F. Short clips (2-7 minutes) from the PBS television program titled "The Lobotomist" are available at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lobotomist/program/
_________________________________________________________

7. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A. The wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans), a bird that hunts over the open ocean, may be able to use its sense of smell to find food from a distance of 20 km. (Source: Nevitt, G.A., Losekoot, M., Weimerskirch, H., Evidence for olfactory search in wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans, PNAS, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0709047105)

B. The brain of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the leader of the 1917 Russian revolution, has been studied by scientists. When Lenin died in 1924, his brain was removed before his body was laid to rest in a Moscow mausoleum. German neuroscientist Oskar Vogt (born 1870, died 1959) spent two and a half years preparing and studying Lenin's brain and published a paper on the brain in 1929 where he reported that some neurons (pyramidal neurons) in layer III of the cerebral cortex of Lenin's brain were very numerous and large.

C. According to a 2001 survey by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, accountants get the most headaches. About 49% of the accountants in the survey reported getting weekday headaches. The accountants were followed by librarians (43%), bus and truck drivers (42%) and construction workers (38%) for how often they got headaches.

D. The Dalai Lama keeps a plastic model of the brain on his desk at home. (Source: Time magazine, March 31, 2007, page 47.)

E. April is National Autism Awareness Month.
_________________________________________________________

8. SUPPORT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

To insure that Neuroscience for Kids stays available, we need your help. If you would like to contribute to the funding of Neuroscience for Kids, please visit:

Help Neuroscience for Kids
_________________________________________________________

9. HOW TO STOP RECEIVING THIS NEWSLETTER

To remove yourself from this mailing list and stop your subscription to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter, send e-mail to Dr. Eric H. Chudler at: chudler@u.washington.edu
_________________________________________________________

Your comments and suggestions about this newsletter and the "Neuroscience for Kids" web site are always welcome. If there are any special topics that you would like to see on the web site, just let me know.

Eric

Eric H. Chudler, Ph.D.
(e-mail: chudler@u.washington.edu)
(URL: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html)