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.

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, 2023

A. The brains of stranded dolphins show signs of Alzheimer's disease (Source: Vacher, M. C., et al., Alzheimer's disease-like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin. European Journal of Neuroscience. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15900).

B. Neurons in a dish have learned how to play the game Pong (Source: Kagan, B.J., et al., In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated game-world, Neuron, 110: 3952-3969, 2022).

C. Elephants have more facial nucleus neurons (about 54,000 in Asian elephants and 63,000 in African elephants) than any other land mammal (Source: Kaufmann, L.V., et al., Elephant facial motor control, Sci. Adv.8, eabq2789, 2022).

D. News agencies reported that more than 100 people in Australia suffered from hallucinations, dilated pupils, rapid heartbeat, and blurred vision after eating spinach that may have been contaminated with plants from the nightshade family. These plants contain chemicals that interfere with the acetylcholine neurotransmitter system.

E. Dikembe Mutombo, a National Basketball Association Hall of Famer, recently started treatment for a brain tumor.

February, 2023

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).

March, 2023

A. Chickens are not sensitive to the pain-inducing chemical (capsaicin) in hot chili peppers (Source: Jordt, S.E. and Julius, D. Molecular basis for species-specific sensitivity to "hot" chili peppers. Cell. 108:421-430. 2002).

B. Scientists have found the fossilized brain of a fish that is approximately 319 million years old (Source: Figueroa, R.T., et al., Exceptional fossil preservation and evolution of the ray-finned fish brain. Nature (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05666-1).

C. Professional soccer players in Scotland are banned from heading the ball the day before and the day after games. The rule comes after review of research that shows heading the ball can affect the brain (Source: Scottish Football Association, https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/).

D. The Earth Species Project is trying to use artificial intelligence to understand communication in non-human animals (Source: https://www.earthspecies.org/).

E. "The Amygdaloids" and "Pavlov's Dogz" are two rock bands with musicians who are all scientists.

April, 2023

A. "I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their characters, and my enemies for their brains." -- Quote from Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890.

B. The brain of a porcupine weighs about 25 grams.

C. There are 2.2 to 2.9 turns in the cochlea.

D. There are no nerves or blood vessels in the eye (Source: Riordan-Eva, P. and Whitcher, J.P., Vaughan & Asbury's General Ophthalmology, 17th ed., New York: Lange Medical Books, 2008).

E. The total length of capillaries in the human brain = ~400 miles (Source: Cipolla, M.J., The Cerebral Circulation, San Rafael (CA: Morgan & Claypool Life Sciences, 2009.)

May, 2023

A. African elephants (Loxodonta africana) use their sense of smell to tell the difference between elephants who they are related to from those who are strangers (Source: von Durckheim, K.E.M., et al. A pachyderm perfume: odour encodes identity and group membership in African elephants. Sci Rep 12, 16768 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20920-2).

B. Antlers amplify sounds and boost the hearing ability of moose (Source: Bubenik, G. and Bubenik, P.G., Palmated antlers of moose may serve as a parabolic reflector of sounds Euro. J. Wildlife Res., 54:533-535, 2008).

C. Robert Pemell, an English country physician, is credited with writing the first neurology book in English. His book, titled De Morbis Capitis; or, Of the Chief Internal Diseases of the Head, was published in 1650 (Source: Pestronk, A., The first neurology book written in English (1650) by Robert Pemell: De Morbis Capitis, Arch. Neurol. 46:215-220, 1989).

D. An octopus can taste objects with its arms. (Nature, 2023).

E. Maranta leuconeura is a plant found in Brazilian tropical forests. The name "leuconeura" comes from Greek meaning "with white nerves."

June, 2023

A. The brain of a giraffe (Giraffa Camelopardalis) weighs about 720 grams (Source: Graic J.-M., et al., The brain of the giraffe (Giraffa Camelopardalis): Surface configuration, encephalization quotient, and analysis of the existing literature. Anat. Rec., 300:1502-1511, 2017).

B. Cleaner fish (Labroides dimidiatus) can recognize themselves in a mirror (Source: Kohda, M. et al., Cleaner fish recognize self in a mirror via self-face recognition like humans, PNAS, February 6, 2023, 120 (7) e2208420120, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2208420120).

C. Using its sense of smell, a wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) can estimate the size of a rival (Source: Scali, S., et al., The size of a smell: assessment of rival's relative size from femoral secretions in the common wall lizards, Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768), Behavioral Ecology, 34:306-313, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arac128).

D. The brain of a larval fruit fly has 3016 neurons and 548,000 synapses (Source: Winding, M., et al., The connectome of an insect brain, Science. 2023 Mar 10;379(6636):eadd9330. doi: 10.1126/science.add9330).

E. Actress Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) has had two brain aneurysms; one in 2011 and another in 2013 (Source: Clarke, E., A Battle for My Life, The New Yorker, March 21, 2019).

July, 2023

A. Goats, sheep, cows and horses sleep only 3.8 to 4.0 hours each day (Source: Greening, L. and McBride, S. A review of equine sleep: Implications for equine welfare, Front Vet Sci. 2022 Aug 17;9:916737. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.916737).

B. Hummingbirds have an excellent spatial memory and they have a relatively larger hippocampus than other birds (Source: Ward, B.J. et al., Hummingbirds have a greatly enlarged hippocampal formation, Biol Lett., 8:657-659, 2012).

C. As we age, our ability to remember dreams decreases (Source: Mangiaruga, A. et al., Spotlight on dream recall: the ages of dreams, Nat. Sci. Sleep., 10:1-12, 2018).

D. Daily naps may slow brain shrinkage as we age (Source: Paz, V. et al., Is there an association between daytime napping, cognitive function, and brain volume? A Mendelian randomization study in the UK Biobank, Sleep Health, available online June 20, 2023).

E. "It is within my brain, then, in the wonderful neurons which make up the gray cortex of the cerebrum, that I not only think but feel." - Frances Gulick Jewett, from Control of Body and Mind, 1908.

August, 2023

A. The phrase "brain drain" was first used in the mid-1950s to describe how British physicians were leaving Great Britain for employment in North America (Source: Wright, D., et al., The 'Brain Drain' of physicians: historical antecedents to an ethical debate, c. 1960-79. Philos. Ethics Humanit. Med., 2008 Nov 10;3:24. doi: 10.1186/1747-5341-3-24).

B. Several neuroscientists who have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine were born in August including Roger Sperry (August 20, 1913), Osamu Shimomura (August 27, 1928) and Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield (August 28, 1919).

C. "The principles now being discovered at work in the brain may provide, in the future, machines even more powerful than those we can at present foresee." -- J.Z. Young, in Doubt and Certainty in Science. A Biologist's Reflections on the Brain, 1960.

D. You can spell "ten elite brains" with the letters in the name "Albert Einstein."

E. Actor Johnny Depp is unable to see depth (stereoblindness) (Source: Atkinson, M., Seeing 3-D cinema from the stereoblind perspective, New York Times, October 21, 2015).

September, 2023

A. Elementary school children who eat a healthy diet show an increased time spent reading and have better reasoning skills (Source: Naveed, S., et al., Effects of 2-year dietary and physical activity intervention on cognition in children--a nonrandomized controlled trial. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2023; DOI: 10.1111/sms.14464).

B. Cold temperatures activate brain circuits in the thalamus that make mammals want to eat more (Source: Lal, N.K., et al., Xiphoid nucleus of the midline thalamus controls cold-induced food seeking. Nature, 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06430-9).

C. Older adults (aged 60-81 years old) who play digital puzzle games have similar memory and concentration.abilities as younger adults (aged 18-30 years old) (Source: Cutting, J., et al., Higher working memory capacity and distraction-resistance associated with strategy (not action) game playing in younger adults, but puzzle game playing in older adults. Heliyon, 2023; 9 (8): e19098 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19098).

D. People who play tackle football may have an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease (Source, Bruce, H.J., American football play and Parkinson disease among men. JAMA Network Open, 2023; 6 (8): e2328644 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.28644).

E. Laboratory tests show that chemical compounds in espresso coffee can inhibit tau protein aggregation, a process that may be involved with Alzheimer's disease (Source: Tira, R., et al., Espresso coffee mitigates the aggregation and condensation of Alzheimer'²s associated tau protein. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2023; DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c01072).

October, 2023

A. Poneratoxin is the name of the pain-inducing neurotoxin found in bullet ants; this chemical prevents inactivation of voltage gated sodium channels (Source: http://www.phdish.com/blog/painful-lessons-from-the-bullet-ant).

B. The 2023 Lasker Award was given last month to a group of scientists for "the invention of optical coherence tomography, a technology that revolutionized ophthalmology -- allowing rapid detection of diseases of the retina that impair vision." (Source: https://laskerfoundation.org/winners/optical-coherence-tomography/).

C. The box jellyfish (Tripedalia cystophora) is able to learn even though it does not have a brain (Source: Bielecki, J., et al., Associative learning in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora, Current Biology. Vol. 33, October 9, 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.08.056).

D. "It is within my brain, then, in the wonderful neurons which make up the gray cortex of the cerebrum, that I not only think but feel. -- Frances Gulick Jewett (from Control of Body and Mind, 1908).

E. Mental health disorders cost the global economy an estimated $5 trillion per year (Source: Arias, D., et al., Quantifying the global burden of mental disorders and their economic value, EClinicalMedicine. 2022 Sep 28;54:101675. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101675).

November, 2023

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).

December, 2023

A. While at sea, wild northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) average only 2 hours of sleep per day for 7 months (Source: Kendall-Bar, J.M. et al., Brain activity of diving seals reveals short sleep cycles at depth. Science, 380:260-265, 2023).

B. Researchers have developed a wireless, handheld, non-invasive device that can detect biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease (Source: Bodily, T.A., et al., In pursuit of degenerative brain disease diagnosis: Dementia biomarkers detected by DNA aptamer-attached portable graphene biosensor, PNAS, 2023; 120 (47) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2311565120).

C. Almost one in five school-aged children and preteens take melatonin for sleep (Source: Hartstein, L.E., et al., Characteristics of melatonin use among US children and adolescents, JAMA Pediatrics, 2023 DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.4749).

D. Yoga may help reduce feelings of stigma and the frequency of seizures in people who have epilepsy (Source: Kaur, K., et al., Effectiveness of yoga intervention in reducing felt stigma in adults with epilepsy: A randomized controlled trial, Neurology, 2023; 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207944 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207944).

E. "Hallucinate" has been selected by the Cambridge Dictionary as the 2023 Word of the Year (Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/editorial/woty).

More trivia from other years:

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2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998

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