NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTER
Volume 22, Issue 9 (September, 2018)

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Welcome to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter.

In this issue:

  1. What's New at Neuroscience for Kids
  2. Neuroscience for Kids Site of the Month
  3. Neuroscience for Monks...¦Again
  4. New Scientist Live
  5. Field Trip Grant
  6. BrainWorks
  7. Media Alert
  8. Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
  9. Back to School Email Address
  10. Support Neuroscience for Kids
  11. 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 August including:

A. August Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2208.html

B. Neuroscience in the News
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html

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2. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS "SITE OF THE MONTH"

The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for " for September is "Neuroscience Is..." at:

https://www.aan.com/education-and-research/neuroscience-is/

"Neuroscience Isâ..." was created by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) to help people understand the importance of brain research. The AAN is especially interested in the care of people with neurological disorders and developing cures for brain diseases.

The "Neuroscience Is..." web site is divided into four sections: A) Neuroscience Is...Cool; B) Neuroscience Is...Rewarding; C) Neuroscience Is Essential and D) Neuroscience is...Critical. The "Cool" section of the site contains a list of resources, links and materials that teachers and students can use in the classroom or for science fairs. The list even includes several links to "Neuroscience for Kids." The "Rewarding" section is intended for university and medical school students and residents who want to get involved in neuroscience education and research. There is also information about the Neuro Film Festival that open to teenagers. Physicians and patients should visit the "Essential" section of the web site for information about clinical trials. Finally, the "Critical" section of "Neuroscience Is..." provides ideas to advocate for neuroscience research funding, including engaging with legislators.

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3. NEUROSCIENCE FOR MONKS...AGAIN

I'll be making my way to India this month to teach a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns about neuroscience. This will be my seventh trip to India to teach in workshops organized by the Science for Monks program. This year the workshop will be held in northeast India in the state of Sikkim. If you are interested, you can follow me on my journey by reading my trip blog at:

http://neuroinindia.blogspot.com

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4. NEW SCIENTIST LIVE

London is one of my favorite cities to visit because there is so much history, so many museums and so much science. This month (September 20-23), you can experience the world of science with "New Scientist Live" at ExCeL London.

New Scientist Live promotes itself as "an award-winning, mind-blowing festival of ideas and discoveries for everyone curious about science and why it matters." The event features speakers, workshops, performances and interactive experiences. The organizers have not neglected neuroscience. Neuroscientists will be on hand to talk about their new discoveries and research. Experiences include virtual reality demonstrations that allow you to a) enter a brain; b) create your own brain probe and c) feel what it is like to have dementia.

New Scientist Live is not cheap: a standard one-day admission ticket costs £30 ($39) for adults and £20 ($26) for children. For more information about New Scientist Live, see:

https://live.newscientist.com/welcome

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5. FIELD TRIP GRANT

The Target Company is providing field trip grants to education professionals in the United States. The grants are intended to bring outside-the-classroom learning opportunities to students. Perhaps teachers can use these field trip grants to bring their classes to a Brain Awareness Week event in March. Each grant provides $700 and applications are accepted until October 1, 2018. Field trips must be taken between January 1, 2019 and the end of the 2018-19 academic year. For more information and the application form, see:

https://corporate.target.com/corporate-responsibility/community/philanthropy/field-trip-grants

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6. BRAINWORKS

Last month, four kids and I recorded a new episode of the BrainWorks TV show. This episode focuses on Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) and Neural Engineering. During the show, the kids and I record from cockroach leg neurons and control a robotic gripper with electrical signals generated by our muscles. We also speak with a patient who damaged her spinal cord in a car accident and learn about how she is trying a new treatment that involves electrical stimulation of her spinal cord. Then we visit with a neurosurgeon who places electrodes directly on the surface of the brain of people undergoing brain surgery. A trip to a BCI lab shows how brain signals can be used to control a video game. Finally, we talk to a professor in the University of Washington Department of Philosophy about how BCI technology is raising some ethical issues we all should think about.

The program is currently being edited. As soon as the show is ready, I'll let you know when and where you can watch it. In the meantime, you can watch previous episodes of BrainWorks here:

http://uwtv.org/series/brainworks/

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7. MEDIA ALERT

A. "New Hope for Alzheimer's" by Alice Park (TIME magazine, August 20, 2018).

B. The September, 2018, issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN has several brain-related articles including "Two Mental Abilities Separate Humans from Animals," "Are Humans the Only Conscious Animal?," "What Makes the Human Brain Special?," and "Artificial Intelligence Will Serve Humans, Not Enslave Them."

C. "The Cognitive Biases Tricking Your Brain" by Ben Yagoda (THE ATLANTIC, September, 2018).

D. "Placebo's New Power" by Alexandra Sifferlin (TIME magazine, September 3-10, 2018).

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8. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A. 6.5% of the adults who are 40 years and older experience phantom odors. In other words, they smell things that are not really present. (Source: Bainbridge, K.E., Byrd-Clark, D., Leopold, D., Factors associated with phantom odor perception among US adults: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, JAMA Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg., Published online August 16, 2018. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2018.1446.)

B. People who live in high latitudes have larger than average sized eyes. (Source: Pearce, E. and Dunbar, R., Latitudinal variation in light levels drives human visual system size, Biology Letters, 8:90-93, 2012.)

C. Koalas spend about 4.8 hours resting while awake and 14.5 hours sleeping each day. (Source: Nagy, K.A. and Martin, R.W., Field metabolic rate, water flux, food consumption and time budget of koalas, Phascolarctos Cinereus (Marsupialia: Phascolarctidae) in Victoria, Australian Journal of Zoology, 33:655-665, 1985.)

D. Brain Ridge is located in Northern California about 25 miles northwest of Santa Rosa, CA.

E. Senator John McCain passed away on August 25, 2018, after a battle with brain cancer (glioblastoma). Glioblastoma is the same type of brain cancer that afflicted Senator Ted Kennedy and Beau Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden.

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9. BACK TO SCHOOL EMAIL ADDRESS

With the start of the new school year, many people will be changing email addresses. If you will be changing your email address and would like to continue receiving this Neuroscience for Kids newsletter, please send me (chudler@u.washington.edu) an updated email address.

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10. SUPPORT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

To ensure that Neuroscience for Kids stays available, we need your help. All contributions to Neuroscience for Kids are tax deductible (subject to IRS regulations). If you would like to donate to Neuroscience for Kids, please visit:

Help Neuroscience for Kids

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11. 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)