Welcome to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter.
In this issue:
1. What's New at Neuroscience for Kids____________________________________________________________
Neuroscience for Kids had several new additions in October including:
A. October Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2710.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. New Neurocalendars
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurocal.html
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for November is the "Dana Foundation Career Network in Neuroscience & Society" at:
The Dana Foundation Career Network in Neuroscience & Society was created to show the many different ways that neuroscience intersects with society. Neuroscience is not just science, medicine and health. Instead, neuroscience influences law, ethics, economics, education, politics, the arts and many other fields. A visit to the Dana Foundation Career Network in Neuroscience & Society website will explain these connections and help you understand how to pursue a career in these areas. Be sure to watch some of the videos on the website with experts speaking about their career pathways and their current work.
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The 2024 Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Contest is now open! Use your imagination to create a poem about the brain. For complete rules and an entry form, go to:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest24.html
Entries must be received by February 1, 2024.
Good luck to everyone!
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The 2023 Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Annual Meeting will be held later this month in Washington, D.C. This meeting is the highlight of the year for many neuroscientists who share their research with other scientists. The meeting is also the first time that many undergraduate and graduate students present their work to the public.
Just about every subfield of neuroscience is discussed at the meeting. Talks and posters are divided into 10 themes: Development / Neural Excitability, Synapses, and Glia Neurodegenerative Disorders and Injury / Sensory Systems / Motor Systems / Integrative Physiology and Behavior / Motivation and Emotion / Cognition / Techniques / History, Education and Society. Most attendees present their work on large (4 ft high x 6 ft wide) posters, but the some people give talks.
In addition to learning about the newest laboratory research at the meeting, I look forward to the special Brain Awareness Week session to hear about neuroscience outreach and education. It's great to learn about the work scientists are doing with their local communities.
To learn more about the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, visit:
https://www.sfn.org/meetings/neuroscience-2023
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Winners of the 2023 Brain Awareness Video Contest have been announced. First place went to Manveer Chauhan and Ria Agarwal for their video titled "How Networks in the Brain Give Us Artificial Intelligence." Watch all of the winning videos: https://www.brainfacts.org/For-Educators/Programs-and-Events/Brain-Awareness-Video-Contest
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A. "Why Our Sense of Taste Changes As We Get Older" (DISCOVER magazine, November-December 2023).
B. "You're So Random" (about personality) and "Oceanic Brainiac" (about the octopus brain) in SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED, October 6, 2023.
C. "Future-proof Your Brain" is the cover story in the October 21-27, 2023, issue of NEW SCIENTIST magazine.
D. "Grammar Changes How We See, an Australian Language Shows" (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, November, 2023).
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A. American neuroscientist David Julius, who won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries about receptors for temperature and touch, was born on November 4, 1955.
B. November is National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month and National Epilepsy Awareness Month.
C. One standard size milk chocolate bar (1.55 oz) contains about 9 mg of caffeine (Source: USDA, https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/index.html).
D. Walking and playing 18 holes of golf may improve cognitive function in older adults (Source: Kettinen, J., et al., Cognitive and biomarker responses in healthy older adults to a 18-hole golf round and different walking types: a randomised cross-over study. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2023; 9 (4): e001629).
E. A recent survey of 1732 people revealed that 1195 of the respondents (69%) use the snooze button when they wake up in the morning (Source: Sundelin, T., et al., Is snoozing losing? Why intermittent morning alarms are used and how they affect sleep, cognition, cortisol, and mood. Journal of Sleep Research, 2023, e14054).
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To ensure that Neuroscience for Kids stays available, we need your help. All contributions to Neuroscience for Kids are tax deductible (subject to IRS regulations). If you would like to donate to Neuroscience for Kids, please visit:
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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.