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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 January including:
A. January Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2701.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/
D. Neuroscience on Postage Stamps from Around the World
https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/stamps/stamps.html
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for February is "Introduction to Psychology & Neuroscience," edited by Leanne Stevens.
https://caul-cbua.pressbooks.pub/intropsychneuro/
Dr. Leanne Stevens, a University Teaching Fellow in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), has adapted material from Rice University to create the e-textbook titled "Introduction to Psychology & Neuroscience." Dr. Stevens has made the resource special by including many clear and accurate images and videos to explain complicated topics. The amount of material in the resource is very impressive: there are 15 main chapters, each with many subchapters. You can review your understanding of the material by answering questions at the end of each chapter.
Because of the large size of the resource, you will need plenty of time to get through everything in "Introduction to Psychology & Neuroscience." Perhaps a chapter or two a week is the right pace. Although the writers have attempted to use simple language through the e-textbook, the content of the book is best suited for undergraduate students or advanced high school students.
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Judging of the 2023 NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS DRAWING CONTEST will begin soon. Winners will be announced this month at:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest23.html
__________________________________________________________International Brain Awareness Week will take place during March, 2023. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with the necessity for many health and safety precautions, makes it impossible to plan and host large groups of people for Brain Awareness Week (BAW) events at the University of Washington. For 2023 BAW, we will host a Speakers Bureau with neuroscientists interested in sharing their passion for brain research with others in smaller groups. Presenters in the Speakers Bureau will be matched with teachers for virtual or possibly in-person classroom presentations.
Here is the way the Speakers Bureau works:
A. Teachers visit the Speakers Bureau web site: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/bawspeakers.html
B. Teachers complete the online application form available on the Speakers Bureau web site.
C. I connect teachers with a potential speaker. Speakers are responsible for developing their own presentations, but I'll help them if they need it.
D. Arrangements (e.g., date, time, virtual/in-person, place) are made between the presenter and teacher.
Most slots in the Speakers Bureau have been filled, but there is room to accommodate a few more classes.
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Time is running out to apply to some great summer science programs for high school students.
A. Young Scholars Program - REACH: I will be directing this program at the Center for Neurotechnology (University of Washington, Seattle, WA) for students interested in neurotechnology and neuroscience. The program will take place in-person and virtually July 10-14, 2023. The deadline for summer 2023 YSP-REACH program applications is March 15, 2023. For more information and an application form, see:
https://centerforneurotech.uw.edu/content/young-scholars-program
B. The Fred Hutch Cancer Center Pathways Research Explorers Program is for rising 10th and 11th grade students and includes a two-week introductory summer program:
C. The Fred Hutch Cancer Center Summer High School Internship Program is an eight-week, full-time paid internship for rising 12th graders. The program starts with two weeks of hands-on training on laboratory safety techniques followed by six weeks of mentored activities:
https://www.fredhutch.org/en/about/internships/summer-high-school-internship-program.html
D. The DO-IT Center and Center for Neurotechnology (CNT) at the University of Washington (UW) will host a free 10-day Neuroscience for Neurodiverse Learners (NNL) summer camp. NNL is hosted as a "hybrid" program with some days online and others onsite at the UW, Seattle campus. I am one of the instructors in this program. More information and applications for camp are now available:
https://www.washington.edu/doit/programs/nnl/summer-program
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Listen and watch a few interviews I did last month: A. Not Old - Better Podcast (Journey into the Brain; 27 min):
https://notold-better.com/brain-health-neurology-science/
B. Verify (10% of the Brain Myth; 1.5 min):
C. Verify (Brain Myths; 17.5 min):
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A. "Acting out dreams predicts Parkinson's and other brain diseases" (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, February, 2023).
B. "The microbe behind multiple sclerosis," "The hunt for a cause" [about depression] and "U.K. recognizes lobster sentience" (DISCOVER magazine, January-February, 2023).
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A. A new blood test can detect a "toxic" protein several years before people have symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (Source: Shea, D., et al., SOBA: Development and testing of a soluble oligomer binding assay for detection of amyloidogenic toxic oligomers, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022; 119 (50) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213157119).
B. Scientists have developed a new dye that crosses the blood-brain barrier and can differentiate between healthy brain tissue and cancerous tissue (Source: Wang, S., et al., Photostable small-molecule NIR-II fluorescent scaffolds that cross the blood-brain barrier for noninvasive brain imaging, J. Amer. Chem. 2022 144 (51), 23668-23676; DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c11223).
D. A volunteer has set a new world record by using a brain-reading implant (brain-computer interface) to communicate at a rate of 62 words a minute (Source: Willett, F., et al., A high-performance speech neuroprosthesis, bioRxiv 2023.01.21.524489; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.21.524489).
D. The area of the brain called the "globus pallidus" gets its name from the Latin words "pale globe."
E. Ants can use their sense of smell to detect cancerous tumors; this ability may be used to detect cancer (Source: Baptiste, P., et al., 2023; Ants act as olfactory bio-detectors of tumours in patient-derived xenograft mice, Proc. R. Soc. B.2902022196220221962).
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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.