NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTER
Volume 15, Issue 8 (August, 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. Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering
4. Brain-Art Competition 2011
5. Media Alert
6. Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
7. Support Neuroscience for Kids
8. 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 June including:

A. July Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news157.html
B. Alabama Concussion Law Signed
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/alcon.html
C. Bilingualism May Delay Alzheimer's Onset
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/biling.html

In July, 5 new figures were added and 26 pages were modified.
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2. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS "SITE OF THE MONTH"

The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for August is the "Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) Support" at:

http://www.utdallas.edu/research/FAS/index.html

Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is an unusual speech disorder that happens when people start to speak with a "foreign" accent. FAS usually occurs after someone has suffered from traumatic brain injury or a stroke. The FAS Support web site provides more information about the disorder including some "before and after" speech samples that you can hear and links to some video news stories that you can watch.
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3. CENTER FOR SENSORIMOTOR NEURAL ENGINEERING

I've taken on new responsibilities as Executive Director of the new Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE) at the University of Washington. The creation of the National Science Foundation-funded CSNE was announced last month in a press release from the University of Washington:

http://www.washington.edu/news/articles/uw-will-lead-18.5-million-effort-to-create-mind-machine-interface

The CSNE will be a hub for delivering neural-inspired sensorimotor devices. These devices will use signals from the brain that are gathered from implantable, wearable, and interactive interfaces. Example devices that researchers in the Center will build include implantable neurochips that can activate paralyzed limbs by electrically stimulating muscles or nerves; stationary robots that extract neural signals from a user's touch to provide home-based, post-stroke therapy; neural-controlled prosthetic limbs, and wearable caps that control external exploration devices.

The new Center will also have opportunities for high school students, teachers and undergraduates! Each summer, a few high school students, teachers and undergraduate students will be placed into CSNE laboratories where they will work on research projects with graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and Center faculty. Application materials for these programs will be available on the CSNE web site:

http://csne.washington.edu
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4. BRAIN-ART COMPETITION

The "Neuro Bureau" recently ran a brain art competition that resulted in some beautiful work. Visit the Brain-Art Competition 2011 web site and you might get some ideas for the Neuroscience for Kids drawing contest:

http://neurobureau.projects.nitrc.org/BrainArt/Competition.html
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5. MEDIA ALERT

A. "Harnessing the Power of Feedback Loops" by Thomas Goetz (Wired magazine, July 2011) describes how giving information to people about their actions can change their behavior.

B. Visit the museum exhibit "Goose Bumps!, The Science of Fear" at the Pacific Science Center (Seattle, WA) until September 5, 2011. The exhibit features interactive demonstrations including a) Fear of Animals, b) Fear of Electric Shock, c) Faces of Emotion, d) Facial Recognition, e) The Survival Game and f) Make a Scary Movie.

C. "How to Build a Better Learner" by Gary Stix (Scientific American, August, 2011) describes brain studies that suggest new ways to improve reading, writing, math and social skills.
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6. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A. In the United States, at least 116 million adults suffer from chronic pain conditions. These chronic pain conditions cost $560-630 billion in health care expenses and lost productivity each year. (Source: Committee on Advancing Pain Research, Care and Education; Board on Health Sciences Policy, "Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research," Institute of Medicine, Washington, D.C., 2011).

B. Caffeine, a central nervous system stimulant, belongs to the xanthine chemical group.

C. The name of the brain area called the "pulvinar" comes from the Greek word meaning "cushion" or "pillow."

D. Some fish in the shad and herring families can hear sounds with frequencies as high as 180 Khz. This ability allows the fish to hear the ultrasonic signals sent by dolphins that eat these fish. Humans can hear sounds up to only 20 KHz. (Source: Bear, M.F., Connors, B.W. and Paradiso, M.A., Neuroscience. Exploring the Brain, 3rd edition, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007.)

E. The sale and consumption of fugu, the Japanese pufferfish, is banned by countries in the European Union because it contains the potentially deadly neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin.
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7. 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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8. 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)