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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 March including:
A. March Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2403.html
B. New Neuroscience in the News
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html
C. 2020 NeuroCalendars
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurocal.html
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for April is "iNeuron" at:
https://www.andamiogames.com/benefits
Andamio Games has developed an iPad app to help people learn about neuroscience. I asked Adam Gordon, President of Andamio Games, for a description of the app:
"iNeuron® is an iPad app, available for free download from the App Store, that teaches the basics of neuroscience through a series of lessons and learn-by-doing circuit challenges. If two or more players and two or more iPads are available in proximity to one another, learners can solve the neuron circuit challenges collaboratively.
https://apps.apple.com/app/id947502419
The app is designed to be used without instruction, but additional teacher resources are available at https://www.andamiogames.com/for-teachers."
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I was in my home kitchen lab last month to investigate the effect of Gymnema tea. Gymnema tea is made by steeping the leaves of an herb called Gymnema sylvestre in hot water. The interesting thing about Gymnema tea is that it can block sweet receptors in your mouth. Therefore, foods will not taste sweet. You might wonder why someone would want to drink such a beverage. One reason is that the tea helps some people lose weight because it makes sweet foods less appealing. I decided to test the ability of Gymnema tea on my taste buds.
Here is how I set up my experiment:
My results and observations: First, I thought Gymnema tea tasted terrible. To me, the tea tasted like grass. Second, as expected, the tea affected my perception of sweet greatly. My perception of salt was just a little different and the tea had no effect on my perception of sour. The sugary waters no longer tasted sweet, especially the regular, granulated, table sugar. Instead, this very sweet water tasted like it had no sugar at all. The sweetness of the powdered sugar solution and brown sugar solutions also were much lower. The sweetness of the aspartame solution was only slightly reduced after the tea. The taste of the chocolate powder drink after the tea was also quite unusual: it still tasted like chocolate, but it was no longer sweet. Honey tasted just a little less sweet and there were no changes in my perception of the soy sauce or lemon juice.
The effects of the tea lasted about one hour. I also tried a sweet granola bar after approximately 45 minutes after trying the tea. The granola bar tasted like cardboard!
This experiment shows how messages from different taste buds send information to the brain. I was able to block messages from one set of taste receptors (sweet) while leaving messages from other taste receptors unchanged. Normal taste perception is a combination of messages from all of the different taste receptors.
**Note: Gymnema tea should not be used by people with diabetes or who are taking medications to lower their blood sugar. Also, kids should always get permission from their parents before trying this experiment.
The Neuroscience for Kids web site has more experiments about taste at:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chtaste.html
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Just because COVID-19 is keeping us indoors and away from school is no reason to stop learning about the brain. There are plenty of materials, experiments, activities and games you can use at home. Here are some resources from the Neuroscience for Kids website to get you started:
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A. "Brain Support" by Robert Frederick (AMERICAN SCIENTIST, March/April, 2020).
B. The cover story of the March/April issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN is "Healing with Marijuana."
C. "Mind Craft. Understanding how Asian elephants think in order to save them by Jennie Rothenberg Gritz (SMITHSONIAN magazine, April, 2020).
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A. The University of Rhode Island will offer a new undergraduate degree in neuroscience, the University of Pennsylvania will change the name of its Biological Basis of Behavior major to the Neuroscience major and Boston College will change the name of its Psychology Department to the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.
B. Saint Hubert's Key was a traditional European treatment for rabies. These keys were bars, nails or crosses that were heated and then placed on the wound of an injured person.
C. In the movie "Rocky" (1976), the character Apollo Creed says: "Sports make you grunt and smell. Stay in school, use your brains. Be a thinker, not a stinker."
D. The area of the brain called the pulvinar gets its name from the Latin word for pillow or cushion.
E. John Lilly invented the sensory isolation tank in 1954.
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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)