NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTER
Volume 15, Issue 6 (June, 2011)

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In this issue:

1. What's New at Neuroscience for Kids
2. Neuroscience for Kids Site of the Month
3. Neuroscience in India
4. Neuroscience Video Contest
5. Teen Substance Abuse Awareness Through Music Contest
6. Illusion of the Year
7. Media Alert
8. Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
9. Support Neuroscience for Kids
10. How to Stop Your Subscription
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1. WHAT'S NEW AT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

Neuroscience for Kids had several new additions in May including:

A. May Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news155.html
B. Mary Tyler Moore Recovering from Brain Surgery
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/mtm.html
C. Long-term Use of Ecstasy May Damage the Hippocampus
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/ehippo.html

In May, 3 new figures were added and 39 pages were modified.
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2. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS "SITE OF THE MONTH"

The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for June is "NeuroMorpho.Org" at:

http://neuromorpho.org/neuroMorpho/index.jsp

NeuroMorpho.Org is a collection of digitally reconstructed neurons. The collection currently has more than 6,000 reconstructions from 11 different species, 45 brain regions, and 47 cell types that have been contributed by 50 labs from around the world.

You can browse the collection by animal species, brain area, cell type or laboratory. Most of the neurons come from humans, but there are many from rats, mice, monkeys, crickets, cats, guinea pigs, rats and flies. Approximately two-thirds of all of the neurons are from the cerebral cortex.

To see a reconstructed neuron, go to "Browse All Files" on the menu bar and select an animal, species or cell type. Click on a selection and then on one of the neuron names. The "3D Neuron Viewer" will open a JAVA enabled window where you can enlarge the image and "Animation" will open a window that will rotate the neuron in three dimensions. Looking at neurons in this way will show you the great variability in the size and shape of neurons found in the brain.

NeuroMorpho.Org was developed and is maintained by the Computational Neuroanatomy Group, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University (Giorgio Ascoli, Ph.D.).
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3. NEUROSCIENCE IN INDIA

Last month I joined a group of science educators on a trip to Bir, India, to teach 35 Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns. You can read about this trip on my blog at:

http://neuroinindia.blogspot.com

and see some photographs at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/echudler/SFMBIR

I hope to go back to India in several months and continue my work with these monks and nuns.
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4. NEUROSCIENCE VIDEO CONTEST

Be the star of a video about the brain and nervous system, and win up to $1,000!

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is looking for videos that creatively educate and excite the public about neuroscience, and we want you to get involved! Cash prizes will be awarded to the best original video that demonstrates a concept about the brain or nervous system in less than five minutes through an animation, song or skit. Videos will be judged on accuracy, creativity and educational content. Scientists of ALL ages are welcome to participate, but contestants must partner with an SfN member. You can find a neuroscientist near you using the SfN Web site at:

http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=neuroscientistTeacherPartners

Submissions are due June 10, 2011. For details about the contest, see:

http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=bavideo_main
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5. TEEN SUBSTANCE ABUSE AWARENESS THROUGH MUSIC CONTEST

MusiCares, the GRAMMY Foundation and the National Institutes of Health are sponsoring the Teen Substance Abuse Awareness through Music Contest. This is your chance to use your musical skills to spread the message about healthy choices and the dangers of drug abuse. To enter the contest, you must create a music video or write an original musical composition about healthy and creative living or about the dangers of drug abuse.

For contest rules and deadlines, see:

http://drugfactsweek.drugabuse.gov/contest.php

and

http://www.grammy.org/musicares/news/nih-grammy-foundation-and-musicares-announce-2011-teen-music-contest
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6. ILLUSION OF THE YEAR

"Silencing Awareness of Change by Background Motion" by Jordan Suchow and George Alvarez (Harvard University) was announced as the winner of the 2011 Illusion of the Year. Try the illusion yourself at:

http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com/2011/silencing-awareness-of-change-by-background-motion/

You can read a scientific paper describing the illusion at:

http://jwsu.ch/ow/docs/suchow2011silencing.pdf

View all of the illusion finalists at:

http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com/
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7. MEDIA ALERT

A. The cover story of the May/June 2011 issue of YES MAG, is "Head Cases." The magazine has articles about "how we know and what we know about the brain."

B. "Head Cases" by Ben Reiter (Sports Illustrated, May 16, 2011) discusses the controversy about the neurological effects of contact sports.

C. "A Test for Consciousness" by Christof Koch and Giulio Tononi (Scientific American, June, 2011) describes a possible way to know if a computer is conscious.

D. "The Science of Optimism" is the cover story of the June 6, 2011, issue of TIME magazine.
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8. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A. Several people who made significant contributions to neuroscience were born in the month of June: Otto Loewi, discoverer of acetylcholine; Eduard Phluger, an early spinal cord researcher; Henry Hallett Dale, who won the Nobel Prize for work on nerve impulses; Thomas Young who theorized that three types of receptors in the retina mediate color vision; Alois Alzheimer, who described the syndrome of neural degeneration that is named for him; Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Serturner, discoverer of morphine; Paul Broca, one of the first to identify a brain location that is associated with language.

B. The British government may build a new highway to connect Cambridge and Oxford. Some have called this new road "The Brain Belt."

C. Northampton College in central England recorded a house cat with a purr of 73 decibels. For comparison, car traffic reaches about 70 decibels and an alarm clock is as loud as 80 decibels. (Source: Seattle Times, March 31, 2011, page A8.)

D. Approximately 75% to 85% of those who stutter in childhood will outgrow it when they become adults. (Source: National Institutes of Health; http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/Feb2011/Feature2)

E. June is National Aphasia Awareness Month and Vision Research Month.
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9. SUPPORT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

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:

Help Neuroscience for Kids
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10. HOW TO STOP RECEIVING THIS NEWSLETTER

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.
(e-mail: chudler@u.washington.edu)
(URL: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html)