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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/news2603.html
B. New Neuroscience in the News
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html
C. Visit or follow my Instagram site with neuroscience facts and trivia:
https://www.instagram.com/ericchudler/
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for April is "Neuroscience: Canadian 2nd Edition Open Textbook" at:
https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/neurosciencecdn2/
As the title suggests, "Neuroscience: Canadian 2nd Edition Open Textbook" is written as a textbook with many of the standard explanations of brain anatomy and neuron function. The book does a great job in its discussion of methods used in neuroscientific research (e.g., optogenetics) and new topics (e.g., exercise, art) related to neuroscience. You will also find short quizzes throughout the online textbook to test your understanding of concepts and there are links to videos that take you outside the book to explore topics in more detail.
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The DO-IT Center and Center for Neurotechnology (CNT) at the University of Washington is sponsoring a free, ten-day program for neurodiverse students during the summer of 2022 (August 8-19, 2022). The program is open to high school sophomores, juniors, or seniors who are citizens and permanent residents of the United States and its possessions who identify as neurodiverse learners. I will serve as the education director of this camp. Students will learn about neuroscience, neural engineering, neuroethics, scientific communication and research in CNT laboratories. The goal is to expose students to the field of neural engineering and provide basic preparation for college studies in STEM subjects and future STEM careers. Applications for the summer program are now being accepted at:
https://www.washington.edu/doit/programs/nnl/summer-program
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Good dental health is something we should all take seriously. I take care of my teeth by careful brushing and flossing and visiting my dentist for regular checkups. However, even with this care, I must admit I have a filling or two. Recently one of my fillings developed a crack and I needed to get a crown (also called a cap) on a molar tooth.
I did not look forward to the procedure, but knew I needed to get the tooth repaired so it didn't turn into a bigger problem. Fortunately, the entire procedure was pain-free. During my first visit, the dentist applied some topical anesthetic to my gums and then injected some lidocaine. After a few minutes, the dentist placed a little piece of ice to my tooth and asked if I felt anything. I could feel a little pressure from my jaw, but no sensation of pain or coldness from my tooth. Lidocaine works by making sodium channels on neuronal membranes less likely to open. Because sodium ions have trouble moving across the neuronal membrane, a neuron is prevented from depolarizing. Therefore, a neuron cannot generate an action potential to send a message to my brain. So, the lidocaine stopped all signals from nerves in my tooth. (For more details about action potentials, see: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/ap.html.)
After the lidocaine took effect, the dentist starting drilling into a tooth to remove any decay and shape the tooth. But I didn't feel a thing because no signals were sent to my brain. I must admit that it was a bit uncomfortable having my mouth open, but it didn't not hurt. When the drilling was done, I bit down on some soft material that made an impression of my tooth. The impression was used to create a porcelain cap to fit over my tooth. The procedure finished with the fitting of a temporary cap.
In two weeks I returned to the dentist's office to get a permanent cap. No anesthetic was needed during this visit. The temporary cap was removed and the permanent cap was glued into place. Now I have a nice, shiny white molar!
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High school students are invited to participate in the BRAIN Initiative Challenge: "Ethical Considerations of Brain Technologies." For this challenge, students must write an essay or create a video "envisioning current and/or near-future states of brain technologies and the ethical dilemmas they may bring."
Submissions are due April 14, 2022. For rules and entry form, see:
https://www.challenge.gov/?challenge=brain-initiative-2022
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A. "Secrets of the Mind" is the title of the Winter 2022 special issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine. This issue is filled with great articles about the brain research and consciousness.
B. "How Migrating Birds Use Quantum Effects to Navigate," "The Father of Modern Neuroscience Discovered the Basic Unit of the Nervous System," and "Spark Creativity with Thomas Edison's Napping Technique" (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, April, 2022).
C. Read the American Academy of Sleep Medicine statement calling for the end of seasonal time changes: https://aasm.org/aasm-calls-for-end-of-seasonal-time-changes-ahead-of-springing-forward/
D. "Your Productive Brain" (BBC SCIENCE FOCUS magazine, March, 2022).
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A. Draughtsboard sharks (Cephaloscyllium isabellum) often sleep with their eyes open (Source: Kelly, M.L., et al., Energy conservation characterizes sleep in sharks, Biol. Lett., 182021025920210259, 2022, http://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.025).
B. Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1932, worked in a munitions factory seven days a week for three months during World War I; he was 57 years old at the time. (Source: Dolan, M., Boneheads & Brainiacs. Heroes and Scoundrels of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Fresno (CA): Quill Driver Books, 2020).
C. In the 1920s, 1904 Nobel Prize winner Ivan Petrovich Pavlov had three laboratories that employed hundreds of researchers (Source: Dolan, M., Boneheads & Brainiacs. Heroes and Scoundrels of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Fresno (CA): Quill Driver Books, 2020).
D. Giant clams (Tridacna maxima) have several hundred pinhole-type eyes (each about 0.5 mm in diameter) on their exposed mantle (Source: Land, M.F., The spatial resolution of the pinhole eyes of giant clams (Tridacna maxima), Proc Biol Sci., 270:185-188, 2003).
E. There are 7,266 neurosurgeons in the United States (Source: Rahman, S., et al., Disparities in the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons in the United States: A geospatial analysis, World Neurosurgery, 151: e146-e155, 2021).
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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.