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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 September including:
A. September Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2609.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 October is "NeuroPsyence" at:
NeuroPsyence was created by Pratik Raul, a cognitive neuroscience graduate student at the University of Canberra. Pratik is assisted by other graduate students who write articles for anyone interested in neuroscience and psychology. The site has some great articles about brain myths (e.g., 10% of the brain myth), basic neuroscience and neurological disease. NeuroPsyence is relatively small at this time, but it is web site to keep your eye on for future developments.
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It's back to school time! Perhaps you can help your class or school by obtaining a grant for a science program. Your grant might focus on activities for Brain Awareness Week or maybe you could purchase science books for your school library. Maybe you could buy equipment and supplies to start an afterschool neuroscience club or use the money support a science fair.
If you are a student, let your parents and teachers know that there are grants available to help. If you are a parent, let your school’s teachers and PTA know that they could be eligible for funding. Here are a few places that offer grants to support school science programs:
Toshiba America Foundation: grant (up to $1,000) for K-5 grade teachers for classroom science projects; http://www.toshiba.com/taf/k5.jsp
National PTA Programs: grants for PTAs and PTSAs for projects focused on STEM, literacy, digital citizenship, mental health, healthy lifestyles or the arts. Unfortunately, the deadline for this application was last month; https://ptagrants.secure-platform.com/a
Association of American Educators Foundation Classroom Grant: Grants (up to $500) for classroom projects and materials (e.g., books, software, calculators, lab materials); https://www.aaeteachers.org/index.php/classroom-grant-application
Walmart Local Community Grant: grants ($250 to $5,000) for education and other areas; https://walmart.org/how-we-give/local-community-grants
Pitsco Educator Grant: funds for teachers in the form of a $350 Pitsco voucher for Pitsco products; https://resources.pitsco.com/pitsco-grant-app
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Now that autumn has arrived, my backyard herb garden is no longer producing ingredients to spice up my meals. During the summer, I grew chives, lemon balm, lemon thyme, sage, parsley, anise, basil, dill and cilantro that I added to recipes. Although not everyone loves all of these herbs, there is one herb on this list that causes a strong reaction of disgust in about 10% of the population. This herb is cilantro, from the Coriandrum sativum plant.
Cilantro is used to flavor soups, stews, salads and other foods such as burritos, tacos, stir-fry, and curry. To me, cilantro has a fresh, flowery, citrus taste. But for about one in ten people, cilantro tastes like soap! Some people say cilantro tastes rotten and they avoid the herb at all costs. Scientists have discovered that about 10 percent of people have a genetic variant that makes their olfactory receptors highly responsive to aldehyde chemicals. Aldehydes are responsible for the soapy smell of cilantro. So, people who have this olfactory receptor gene get a very strong olfactory response to cilantro and this response contributes to the strong, unpleasant taste of cilantro.
I enjoy cilantro and apparently don't have the gene that makes cilantro taste soapy. I also enjoy the smell and taste of lemon balm. I’ve heard that some people say that lemon balm tastes soapy. Lemon balm also contains some aldehydes, but I have not seen any data that link the soapy taste of lemon balm to a specific gene.
Reference:
Eriksson, N., et al. A genetic variant near olfactory receptor genes influences cilantro preference. Flavour, 1, 22 (2012), https://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2044-7248-1-22.
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Last month I traveled to the Washington, D.C. area for a conference. The conference hotel was located in Arlington, VA, just south of the Pentagon and across the Potomac River from downtown Washington, D.C. and the fantastic museums of the Smithsonian Institution. I would not have time to visit any of Smithsonian museums, but I noticed that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had a museum just two blocks from my hotel. I had never been to the DEA Museum, so during a conference lunch break, I decided to pay the DEA Museum a visit.
The DEA Museum is located within a federal building and security is strict. I had to show my driver's license and my personal belongings (phone, wallet) were screened. Then I walked through a metal detector. When I entered the museum, I noticed that I was the only one in the entire place! In fact, I had the museum to myself for the whole hour I spent in the museum.
I started my tour of the museum by looking at artifacts that document the history of the DEA and drug enforcement. Clothing, equipment and credentials used by DEA agents are on display to show how enforcement of drug laws has progressed over time. The museum also has exhibits about addiction, the science of drugs and the effects of drugs on the brain.
The museum is free to enter and currently open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. For more information about the DEA museum, see:
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A. "Artificial Intelligence: Your Mind & The Machine" is a new exhibit at the Museum of History and Industry (Seattle, WA): https://mohai.org/exhibits/artificial-intelligence-your-mind-the-machine/
B. "How Squishy Math Is Revealing Doughnuts in the Brain" and "Artificial General Intelligence Is Not as Imminent as You Might Think" (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine, October, 2022).
C. "The Myopia Generation: Why Do So Many Kids Need Glasses Now?" (THE ATLANTIC, October, 2022).
D. "Minds of their Own" is the cover story of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine (October, 2022).
E. "Scents and Sensibility" in SMITHSONIAN magazine (October, 2022).
F. "The Eyes Have It" in COSMOS magazine (September-November, 2022).
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A. According to more than 3,000 U.S. adults polled in the Casper/Gallup "The State of Sleep in America. 2022 Report, one in three people says their sleep is "fair" or "poor" (Source: https://www.gallup.com/analytics/390536/sleep-in-america-2022.aspx).
B. Armadillos and sloths do not have any cone receptors in their eyes; therefore, they are completely colorblind, have poor eyesight in dim light and are completely blind in bright light (Source: Emerling, C.A. and Springer, M.S., Genomic evidence for rod monochromacy in sloths and armadillos suggests early subterranean history for Xenarthra, Proc. Biol. Sci., Feb 7;282(1800):20142192, 2015).
C. Music played at low volume, compared to high volume, leads to more sales of healthy foods in cafes and supermarkets (Source: Biswas, D. et al., Sounds like a healthy retail atmospheric strategy: Effects of ambient music and background noise on food sales, J. Acad. Mark. Sci., 47:37-55, 2019).
D. Last month, a resolution was introduced in the U.S. Congress to designate September 15, 2022, as "National Brain Health Day" (Source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/1348/text).
E. The "Neuro Fuzzy" is the name of a rice cooker and warmer. I have no idea what "advanced Neuro Fuzzy® logic technolog" is or how well the product works (Source: https://www.zojirushi.com/app/product/nszcc).
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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.