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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/news2410.html
B. New Neuroscience in the News
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for November is "Brain Zoo" at:
https://olmanlab.dash.umn.edu/brainzoo/
Brain Zoo was created by Dr. Cheryl Olman, an associate professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Minnesota. Although the Brain Zoo web site seems a bit incomplete because it has only two blog entries (both from 2019) and the Activities/Curriculum page is completely empty, I chose this site the month because it offers something very unique: STL files that you can download to print your own 3-D animal brain models.
The web site has pages for 11 different animal brains, but STL files for some of the larger brains were missing when I visited the site. Nevertheless, click on the "STL FILES" link in the top navigation bar to open a page showing the different animals. Click on a particular animal to navigate to an interactive image of the animal's brain and a link to the STL file. Click on the "DOWNLOAD THIS FILE" to use the STL files with your 3-D printer.
These brain models would make a great exhibit at a science fair or during Brain Awareness Week. You can also download a set of facts and figures about each animal through the "ANIMAL INFOGRAPHICS" link.
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Get out your pencils, pens and markers! The 2021 NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS DRAWING CONTEST is now open to students in kindergarten through high school, teachers and parents. Use your imagination to draw a picture about the nervous system and you might win a prize. The complete set of rules and the official entry form for the contest are available at:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest21.html
Good luck to everyone!
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Have you heard of Richadella dulcifica? No? What about the miracle berry? Still nothing? Well, then let me tell you about the little fruit that packs a powerful punch.
Richadella dulcifica (also called Synsepalum dulcificum) is the scientific name for a small shrub grown in West Africa. The plant produces a small, red berry about the size of a bean. Although the berry does not have much flavor by itself, it has the ability to make sour foods and drinks taste incredibly sweet.
The secret ingredient in the miracle berry is a protein called miraculin. When people chew on miracle berries, miraculin changes the shape of sweet receptors on their tongue. When something acidic (sour) is eaten, the miraculin makes the sweet receptors extremely sensitive. Therefore, the brain gets signals from the sweet receptors indicating that what is being eaten is sweet. Miraculin works only in acidic conditions.
I decided to test the ability of miracle berry in my kitchen (my "at-home-laboratory"). First, I ordered some miracle berries and received two products: freeze-dried miracle berries and miracle berry tablets. For my first experiment, I collected several drinks and foods in cups and containers (see the list below). Some of the items were sour, but others were bitter, sweet, or salty. I put a small amount of each taste test item into a labeled container. I also poured a glass of tap water into a cup.
First, I tasted a bit of each of my test items and made notes about each taste. I rinsed my mouth with a sip of tap water after each taste. Then I let a miracle berry tablet dissolve on my tongue for about five minutes. After the miracle berry completely dissolved, I tried each test item again and recorded my perception of the taste. I again quickly rinsed my mouth with tap water after each taste of a different test item. Here are my observations after using the miracle berry:
The most interesting changes were to my perceptions of sour tastes. Normally, lime juice, lemon juice and vinegar would be very difficult to drink because of their high acid content and sour taste. However, the miraculin made these easy to drink and in fact made the lime juice and lemon juice very tasty. The observation that sugar water tasted less sweet may seem surprising, but miraculin actually blocks sweet receptors in neutral conditions. Also, as expected, the miracle berry had no effect on salty items. These effects lasted about 60 minutes and then my ability to taste returned to normal. A few days later I tried the same experiment using a freeze-dried miracle berry. The freeze-dried miracle berry produced similar results to the miracle berry tablet, but the effect with the freeze-dried product was not as strong and did not last as long as the effect produced by the tablet. (Note: there is a small pit inside of a freeze-dried miracle berry, so chew around the pit carefully and then spit it out.)
CAUTION: these miracle berry experiments should be done with adult supervision. Be aware of any food allergies and sensitivities. Also, be careful how much of each test item you consume because the miracle berries make acidic foods and drinks taste sweet. Therefore, you might consume a large amount of each item and this might upset your digestion. Be especially careful if you try vinegar or Tabasco sauce. When I did the experiment, I took only small tastes of each item.
References:
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There is still time to join "The Conrad Challenge," a competition for students, ages 13-18, "to create products and/or services to address some of the most pressing global and local challenges." Teams can work on projects in the categories of A) Cyber-technology & Security, B) Aerospace & Aviation, C) Energy & Environment, D) Health & Nutrition, E) Oceans or F) Smoke-free World. Details about the Conrad Challenge are available at:
https://www.conradchallenge.org/
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A. "Solving the Mind-Gut Mystery" is the cover story in DISCOVER magazine (November, 2020).
B. The Fall 2020 issue of CEREBRUM has been published by the Dana Foundation. This publication is available online at: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/1047579/.
C. "Mysteries of Your Brain" is a new show at the Bell Museum on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus in St. Paul, MN ( https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/brain-content/).
D. "Decoding a Disorder at the Interface of Mind and Brain" (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, November, 2020).
E. "The Deadly Shortage of Venom Antidote" (SMITHSONIAN magazine, November, 2020).
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A. Actor Keanu Reeves played a neuroscientist in the 2018 film titled "Replica."
B. Squid ink contains the neurotransmitter dopamine (Source: Derby, C.D., Cephalopod ink: production, chemistry, functions and applications. Mar Drugs, 12:2700-2730, 2014)
C. The brain of the fruit fly contains about 100,000 neurons (Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, https://www.hhmi.org/news/complete-fly-brain-imaged-at-nanoscale-resolution)
D. Neurosurgeons at the University of California, San Francisco, recently performed brain surgery on a sea lion to control the animal's seizures. (Source: Richtel, M., Brain Surgery for a "Sweet Boy": Saving Cronutt the Sea Lion, New York Times, October 8, 2020)
E. According to US News & World Report (October 20, 2020), the best universities for neuroscience and behavior are: 1) Harvard University, 2) University of California - San Francisco, 3) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 4) Stanford University and 5) University College London. (See all of the rankings here: Help Neuroscience for Kids
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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.