NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTER
Volume 13, Issue 3 (March, 2009)

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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. 2009 Neuroscience for Kids Drawing Contest - Results
4. 2009 Brain Awareness Week
5. Neuroscience Camp at Northwest College
6. Media Alert
7. Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
8. Support Neuroscience for Kids
9. How to Stop Your Subscription
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1. WHAT'S NEW AT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

Neuroscience for Kids had several new additions in March including:

A. February Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news132.html
B. Neuroscience for Kids Drawing Contest Results
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest89.html
C. Sleep Medication: Into the Mist
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/mist.html
D. May, June, July and August Neurocalendars
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pdf/may09.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pdf/jun09.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pdf/jul09.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pdf/aug09.pdf

In February, 12 new figures were added and 30 pages were modified.
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2. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS "SITE OF THE MONTH"

The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for March is "On the Brain" at:

http://www.med.harvard.edu/publications/On_The_Brain/

"On the Brain" is an online newsletter (PDF files) from the Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute. Each newsletter has short articles about recent brain research and new treatments for neurological disorders. The most recent newsletter (Winter, 2009) includes the following articles: "Cognitive Neuroscience: Understanding Complex Human Behavior and the Brain" | "The Stress of Poverty Affects Childhood Brain Development" | "Small Amyloid Assemblies Provide New Target for Alzheimer's" | "Anger and the Brain"
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NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS DRAWING CONTEST - RESULTS

Judging of the 2009 NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS DRAWING CONTEST is finished and winners have been mailed their prizes. A total of 792 students from 29 states and 7 countries sent in drawings. From the United States, drawings arrived from Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. From outside the United States, students sent drawings from Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Korea and The Philippines. You can see some of the winning drawings at:

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest89.html

To judge the contest, I viewed all 792 drawings and selected 20 finalists in each grade level (Kindergarten - grade 2; grade 3- grade 5; grade 6 - grade8; grade 9-grade 12). Winners were chosen by 12 judges. Check the Neuroscience for Kids web site in November for the start of a new Poetry Contest!
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4. 2009 BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK

Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is scheduled for March 16-22, 2009. Teachers can prepare themselves and their students for BAW with the FREE "Dana Sourcebook of Brain Science." At no-cost, teachers can receive a classroom set up of 30 copies, a classroom DVD and answer key of this material. The Dana Sourcebook of Brain Science offers a basic introduction to brain science, its history, our current understanding of the brain, new developments, and future directions. For ordering information, see: http://www.dana.org/news/publications/publication.aspx?id=4318.
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5. NEUROSCIENCE CAMP AT NORTHWEST COLLEGE

Northwest College (Orange City, Iowa) will host a Neuroscience Camp for high school juniors and seniors this summer. Here is a description of the camp from their web site: "Northwestern College offers an annual neuroscience camp for high school juniors and seniors from across the U.S. who are interested in learning more about the brain and nervous system. Participants stay on Northwestern???s campus for one week in June and participate in mini-lectures, demonstrations and hands-on experiments designed to teach them about the brain, nervous system and career opportunities in neuroscience. Campers participate in electrophysiology and neuropharmacology experiments. They dissect a sheep brain, use computer simulation to dissect a human brain, and record the electrical activity of their own brains. Northwestern Neuroscience Camp also includes a field trip to the University of South Dakota???s Sanford School of Medicine to visit the gross anatomy (cadaver) lab and active neuroscience research labs. 'Neuroscience at the Movies' and various recreational activities are planned for campers' evenings." The deadline to apply for the camp is April 1, 2009.
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6. MEDIA ALERT

A. "I Must Save My Child" by Melissa Fay Greene (Parade magazine, February 15, 2009) discusses how one mother dealt with the knowledge that her daughter had epilepsy.

B. "The Biology of Belief" by Jeffrey Kluger (Time magazine, February 23, 2009) discusses how spirituality may be good for your health.

C. Newsweek magazine (February 23, 2009) has several stories about how stress affects health.

D. "How to Save New Brain Cells" by Tracey J. Shors (Scientific American, March, 2009).

E. "Anatomy of a Scare" by Sharon Begley (Newsweek magazine, March 2, 2009) describes the controversy about the link between childhood vaccines and autism.
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7. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A. The irrational fear of Friday the 13th (March 13, 2009 is on a Friday) is called paraskavedekatriaphobia and friggatriskaidekaphobia. Triskaidekaphobia is the irrational fear of objects, people, and events associated with the number 13.

B. "Arbor vitae" (Greek for "tree of life") is the name of a portion of the white matter of the cerebellum.

C. The volume of the brain of a locust is 6 cubic millimeters (Source: Burrows, M., "The Neurobiology of the Insect Brain," 1996).

D. The human cerebellum weighs about 142 grams (Source: Sultan, F. and Braitenberg, V. Shapes and sizes of different mammalian cerebella. A study in quantitative comparative neuroanatomy. J. Hirnforsch., 34:79-92, 1993.)

E. There are no blood vessels in the lens of the eye.
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8. SUPPORT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

To ensure 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
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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
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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)