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Welcome to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter.
In this issue:
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Neuroscience for Kids had several new additions in October including:
A. October Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2310.html
B. New Neuroscience in the News
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html
C. Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Contest
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest20.html
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for November is "Prosopagnosia Research Center" at:
Prosopagnosia is certainly a difficult word to pronounce. But what is prosopagnosia? Also known as face blindness, prosopagnosia is an impairment of the ability to recognize faces. It is not that people with prosopagnosia forget the names of other people, but rather their brains do not process visual information properly. People with prosopagnosia have trouble recognizing even familiar people such as friends and family. Prosopagnosia can be caused by damage to the brain, for example, by a head injury or stroke, or it can be present when someone is born.
The Prosopagnosia Research Center is devoted to learning more about this disorder and finding ways to help people improve their ability to recognize faces. Start your exploration of the Center's website with its summary page (Research) that describes the basic symptoms of prosopagnosia and a brief description about how the brain processes information about faces. The website also has copies of its "Face to Face" newsletter with personal stories about people with prosopagnosia, new research findings and potential therapies. And if you think you have prosopagnosia, you can contact the Center through the website and perhaps get involved as a research participant.
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The 2019-2020 Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Contest is now open! Use your imagination to create a poem about the brain. For complete rules and an entry form, go to:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest20.html
Entries must be received by February 1, 2020.
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The University of Washington Brain Awareness Week Open House will take place on Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Applications to attend the Open House are now being accepted. Teachers can now register to bring their students to the event:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/baw.html
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When I moved my office to a new building earlier this year, I left behind an interesting artifact. Last week, a coworker returned to the old building and recovered a lost treasure I had forgotten. This object is a reproduction of a panel from the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus. A few years ago, a Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter reader contacted me to ask if I wanted a framed reproduction of this papyrus. The reader no longer wanted the document and thought I would enjoy having it. I knew that this papyrus, written by an Egyptian physician around 1500 B.C., contained the first written record of the word "brain." I did not know what part of the papyrus to expect, but I replied quickly to say I would be happy to accept the gift.
Several weeks later, a package with a single panel of the papyrus in a wooden frame arrived at my office. In addition to containing the papyrus, the package also included a book with a translation of the papyrus written by James Henry Breasted. The entire papyrus is a series of panels with 48 cases of injuries and suggestions for treatment. Cases #2-6 involve the head and case #6 is the one that mentions the brain. Case #6 also has descriptions of the convolutions of the brain and the meninges (the coverings of the brain).
I hoped that my document included case #6, but looking through the translation and comparing it to my framed panel, I found that it included cases #12-15. Cases #12-15 describe injuries to the face. Although my papyrus did not mention the brain, I appreciate the kindness, time and effort it took to send me the document. The papyrus is also a great conversation starter when people visit my office!
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Are you looking for the perfect gift for your brainy friend, coworker or family member? Why not a T-shirt, mug, clock, bag, sticker, card, bumper sticker, or jewelry with a brainy theme. Check out the selections at:
http://www.cafepress.com/neuro4kids
(Note: these gift items are ones that I designed and are located on a CafePress store that own.)
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If you are a college student, then now is the time to plan for summer 2020. At the University of Washington (Seattle, WA), I run a Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program through the Center for Neurotechnology. REU students work with other scientists for 10 weeks on research projects related to neurotechnology and attend workshops in ethics and scientific communication. Students come from all over the country, but they must be current students at colleges or universities in the United States, 18 years old by the first day of the program, and U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. REU students are provided with free housing for the 10-week program, a $750 travel allowance for travel to and from Seattle, and a $5,500 stipend. That's right -- the students are paid $5,500 to participate!
Applications for the summer 2020 CNT REU program are now available online at:
http://www.centerforneurotech.org/content/research-experience-undergraduates
The deadline to receive completed applications is January 15, 2020.
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A. "Embracing Our Fear" is the cover story of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND (November, 2019).
B. "Can We Eliminate Depression? A Massive New Project Aims to Do Just That" (DISCOVER magazine, November, 2019).
C. "Expanding Consciousness" (AMERICAN SCIENTIST magazine, November-December, 2019).
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A. Cerebellum Way is the name of a street in New Port Richey, Florida.
B. Only 20% of Americans can name a living scientist; the scientist most often named was Neil deGrasse Tyson. (Source: Research!America; https://www.researchamerica.org./polls-and-publications).
C. The median pay for a medical scientist in the United States is $84,810 per year. (Source: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/medical-scientists.htm)
D. The number of concussions suffered by National Football League (NFL) players was 214 during the 2018 preseason and regular season. In 2017, there were 281 concussions in NFL players. (Source: https://www.playsmartplaysafe.com/newsroom/reports/injury-data/)
E. The top five countries where scientists have published the most neuroscience articles are the United States, China, United Kingdom, German and Canada (Source: https://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php?area=2800&year=2018)
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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)