Neuroscience For Kids

Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia

A collection of trivia about the brain and nervous system from the archives of the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter. For more trivia about the brain, see brain facts and figures.

2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998

January, 2024

A. Eating strawberries may reduce the risk of dementia for middle-aged people (Source: Krikorian, R., Early intervention in cognitive aging with strawberry supplementation, Nutrients, 2023; 15(20): 4431 DOI: 10.3390/nu15204431).

B. Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus) take about 10,000 very short naps of around 4 seconds each day (Source: Libourel, P-A. et al., Nesting chinstrap penguins accrue large quantities of sleep through seconds-long microsleeps, Science, 382:1026-1031, 2023, DOI:10.1126/science.adh0771).

C. The 2023 Collins Dictionary word of the year is "AI."

D. There are approximately 49,940 neurosurgeons in the world (Source: Mukhopadhyay, S., et al., The global neurosurgical workforce: a mixed-methods assessment of density and growth, J. Neurosurg., 130:1142-1148, 2019).

E. Approximately 1 in 4,000 people are born with a partially or completely missing corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is the large nerve fiber tract that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain (Source: NINDS).

February, 2024

A. Reindeer may be able to sleep and eat at the same time (Source: Furrer, M., et al., Reindeer in the Arctic reduce sleep need during rumination, Current Biology, 2023, https://doi.org/1 0.1016/j.cub.2023.12.01).

B. Focused ultrasound may open the blood-brain barrier and allow more efficient delivery of drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease (Source: Rezai, A.R., et al., Ultrasound blood-brain barrier opening and Aducanumab in Alzheimer's disease, N. Engl. J. Med. 390:55-62, 2024).

C. A diet that includes Kiwi fruit may be able to improve mood in as little as four days (Source: Fletcher, B.D., et al., Smartphone survey data reveals the timecourse of changes in mood outcomes following vitamin C or kiwifruit intervention in adults with low vitamin C, British J. Nutrition, 2023; 1 DOI: 10.1017/S0007114523002787).

D. Proteins make up about 60% of the total mass of the lens of the eye (Source: Wistow, G.J. and, Piatigorsky J. Lens crystallins: the evolution and expression of proteins for a highly specialized tissue, Annu. Rev. Biochem., 57:479-504, 1988).

E. A Nile crocodile with a body mass of 90 kg has only 83 million neurons in its brain (Source: Kverková, K., et al., The evolution of brain neuron numbers in amniotes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A., Mar 15;119(11):e2121624119, 2022).

March, 2024

A. 25,808 neuroscientists from 76 countries attended the 2023 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting (Source: Society for Neuroscience, https://www.sfn.org/publications/neuroscience-quarterly/winter-2024/).

B. Researchers have 3D-printed brain tissue that works in a way similar to that of real brain tissue (Source: Yan, Y. et al., 3D bioprinting of human neural tissues with functional connectivity, Cell Stem Cell, 31: 260-274, 2024).

C. Scientists have developed a blood test that could help diagnose brain cancer (Source: O'Neill K, et al., Profiling of circulating glial cells for accurate blood-based diagnosis of glial malignancies. Int. J. Cancer, 154(7):1298-1308, 2024.

D. Think you have a good memory? Try out for the USA Memory Championship on July 27, 2024. See details at: https://www.usamemorychampionship.com/.

E. Artist-scientist Leonardo da Vinci (born: 1452; died: 1519) may have had a form of strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes. This misalignment may have benefited his artistic abilities (Source: Tyler, C.W., Evidence that Leonardo da Vinci had strabismus, JAMA Ophthalmol., 137:82-86, 2019.

April, 2024

A. Artist Georgia O'Keeffe (born: 1887; died: 1986) suffered from macular degeneration and failing vision later in her life. Even with diminishing eyesight, O'Keeffe, with the help of assistants, continued to paint using her memory (Source: https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/about-georgia-okeeffe).

B. Yoga may help preserve cognitive function in older adult (Source: Grzenda, A. et al., Cognitive and immunological effects of yoga compared to memory training in older women at risk for Alzheimer's disease, Transl Psychiatry, 14, 96, 2024).

C. Surface area of the human cerebellar cortex = 1,590 square cm (Source: Sereno et al., The human cerebellum has almost 80% of the surface area of the neocortex, PNAS, 117:19538-19543, 2020).

D. Length of the optic nerve = 50 mm (Source: Kanski, J.J., Clinical Ophthalmology, 6th ed., Edinburgh: Elsevier, 2007).

E. Astronauts with no prior history of headaches sometimes experience migraine and tension-type headaches during space flights (Source: Willebrordus P.J., et al., Frequency and clinical features of space headache experienced by astronauts during long-haul space flights. Neurology, 2024; 102 (7) DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000209224/).

May, 2024

A. William Shakespeare (in Act V, Scene 1 of the play "Macbeth") describes a scene of sleepwalking.

B. Short (5 min.) exercise breaks during lectures improve college students’ attention, motivation, engagement and course enjoyment; still unknown is if such breaks improve student learning and grades (Source: Hayes, S.M., Establishing the feasibility of exercise breaks during university lectures, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2024; 6 DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1358564).

C. The pupils of the eye widen (dilate) when people concentrate (Source: Robison, M.K. and Garner, L.D., Pupillary correlates of individual differences in n-back task performance. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 2024; DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02853-2).

D. The human retina has an area of about 1,094 square mm (Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11556/).

E. "Mental power cannot be got from ill-fed brains" (a quote by Herbert Spencer in his book, Principles of Ethics, 1898).

June, 2024

A. One cubic millimeter of human temporal cortex contains about 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels, and 150 million synapses (Source: Shapson-Coe, A., et al., A petavoxel fragment of human cerebral cortex reconstructed at nanoscale resolution. Science, 2024 May 10;384(6696):eadk4858).

B. Secretions of psychoactive chemicals from the parotid gland of the Colorado River toads (Incilius alvarius) may be used to develop medicines to treat depression (Source: Warren, A.L., et al. Structural pharmacology and therapeutic potential of 5-methoxytryptamines. Nature, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07403-2).

C. There are 4,300,000 neurons in the brain of a female guppy (Poecilia reticulata) (Source: Marhounova, L., et al., Artificial selection on brain size leads to matching changes in overall number of neurons, Evolution, 73:2003-2012, 2019).

D. "Blast medicine anyway! We've learned to tie into every organ in the human body but one. The brain! The brain is what life is all about." (Source: quote from actor DeForest Kelley playing the character of Dr. Leonard H. McCoy in "The Menagerie" episode of the Star Trek TV series).

E. Finland issued a Healthy Brains postage stamp in 1992; see the stamp here: https://stamps.fi/en/finnish-stamps/4290).

July, 2024

A. The 2024 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience with its $1 million award was given to Nancy Kanwisher, Winrich Freiwald and Doris Ying Tsao "for the discovery of a highly localized and specialized system for representation of faces in human and non-human primate neocortex" (Source: https://www.kavliprize.org/prizes/neuroscience/2024).

B. Birdwatching can reduce psychological distress and increase psychological well-being in college students (Source: Peterson, M.N., et al., Birdwatching linked to increased psychological well-being on college campuses: A pilot-scale experimental study, J. Environ. Psych., Volume 96, 2024, 102306, ISSN 0272-4944).

C. Approximately one in six teen drivers report that they have driven a motor vehicle while they were so tired it was hard keeping their eyes open (Source: Dzierzewski, J., et al., Population-based estimates of drowsy driving among US teens: A National Sleep Foundation Study, Sleep, 2024; 47 (Supplement_1): A72 DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsae067.0166).

D. African elephants may have names for each other (Source: Pardo, M.A., et al., African elephants address one another with individually specific name-like calls, Nat. Ecol. Evol. (2024), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02420-w).

E. “Sleep deprivation is the most common brain impairment.” (Source: quote from William C. Dement in his book, The Promise of Sleep, 1999, p. 231).

August, 2024

A. Psychiatrist Hans Berger made the first EEG recording on a human 100 years ago on July 6, 1924. However, he did not publish this work until 1929.

B. A pig with a body mass of 100 kg has a brain mass of 65 g; a pig brain has 2.229 billion neurons (Source: Olkowicz, S., et al., Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain, PNAS, 113:7255-7260, 2016).

C. Analysis of brain activity (EEG) can distinguish between successful and unsuccessful golf putts (Source: Carey, L.M., Commit to your putting stroke: exploring the impact of quiet eye duration and neural activity on golf putting performance, Front. Psychol., July 10, 2024).

D. The human eye has inspired the development of a new type of camera (Source: He, B. et al., Microsaccade-inspired event camera for robotics, Sci. Robot. 9, eadj8124(2024), DOI:10.1126/scirobotics.adj8124).

E. The United Nations issued eight postage stamps to commemorate World Autism Day in 2012; each stamp had artwork designed by people with autism.

September, 2024

A. There are a total of 439 pediatric neurosurgeons in the continental US (Source: Farivar, D., et al., Geographic access to pediatric neurosurgeons in the USA: an analysis of sociodemographic factors, Childs Nerv. Syst., 40:905-912, 2024).

B. Gabby Thomas, who won the gold medal in the women's 200 meter race at the 2024 Paris Olympics, earned her undergraduate degree in neurobiology from Harvard University in 2019 (Source: https://tinyurl.com/2hdfrbv8).

C. The National Football League will allow players to wear Guardian Caps to protect against concussions during the upcoming regular season (Source: https://tinyurl.com/452un9ns).

D. A device implanted into the brain that monitors and stimulates the brain may help treat patients with Parkinson's disease (Source: Oehrn, C.R. et al., Chronic adaptive deep brain stimulation versus conventional stimulation in Parkinson's disease: a blinded randomized feasibility trial. Nature Medicine, 2024; DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03196-z).

E. "Earworms" are the types of songs that get stuck in your head.

October, 2024

A. National Football League Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

B. The word "acetylcholine" comes from the Latin word "acetum" that means vinegar and the Greek word "chole" that means bile.

C. Ardem Patapoutian, 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch, was born on October 2, 1976.

D. Wild baboons (Papio anubis) sleep less when they area in unfamiliar locations and when there are more animals in their group (Source: Loftus, J.C. et al., Ecological and social pressures interfere with homeostatic sleep regulation in the wild. Elife. 2022 Mar 1;11:e73695).

E. A new blood test can identify Alzheimer's disease correctly with about 90% accuracy (Source: Palmqvist, S. et al., Blood biomarkers to detect Alzheimer disease in primary care and secondary care. JAMA. 2024 Jul 28:e2413855. doi: 10.1001/jama.2024.13855).

November, 2024

A. The word "acetylcholine" comes from the Latin word "acetum" that means vinegar and the Greek word "chole" that means bile.

B. John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for their "foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks" (Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/summary/).

C. 1 in 5 adults experience a mental illness each year (Source, National Alliance on Mental Illness, https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/mental-health-by-the-numbers/).

D. Australian Samuel Richards won the 2024 International Brain Bee and received a $3,000 prize. Lisa Wei from Canada won second place and $2,000; Jerry (Siqi) Pan from China won third place and $1,000. All of the winners are 16 years old. (Source, International Brain Bee, https://www.thebrainbee.org/).

E. Young children who do not use screens an hour before bedtime have improved sleep quality and fewer night awakenings (Source: Pickard, H., et al., Toddler screen use before bed and Its effect on sleep and attention, JAMA Pediatrics, 2024; DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3997).

December, 2024

A. 76% of Americans say that they have ”a great deal or fair amount of confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interests.” (Source: Pew Research Center, November 15, 2024; https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2024/11/14/public-trust-in-scientists-and-views-on-their-role-in-policymaking/).

B. Stem-cell transplants into the corneal have restored some vision in a small group of people who had impaired vision (Source: Soma, T., et al., Induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived corneal epithelium for transplant surgery: a single-arm, open-label, first-in-human interventional study in Japan, The Lancet, 40:1929-1939, 2024).

C. Athletes have a better working memory than non-athletes (Source: Wu, C., et al., Comparison of working memory performance in athletes and non-athletes: a meta-analysis of behavioural studies. Memory, 1-19, 2024; https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2024.2423812).

D. Teenagers who used their cellphones while driving are likely to engage in risky driving behaviors (Source: McDonald, C.C., et al., Handheld cellphone use and risky driving in adolescents, JAMA Network Open, 2024; 7 (10): e2439328 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.39328).

E. A consistent bedtime helps children regulate their behavior and emotions (Source: Dadzie, A., et al., Associations between sleep health and child behavior at age 6 Years in the INSIGHT study. J. Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 2024; DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001326).

More trivia from other years:

2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998

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