NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTER
Volume 18, Issue 6 (June, 2014)

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Welcome to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter.

In this issue:

1. What's New at Neuroscience for Kids
2. Neuroscience for Kids Site of the Month
3. Book Review
4. Deep Brain Stimulation Lecture
5. Thought Experiments
6. Media Alert
7. Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
8. Support Neuroscience for Kids
9. Summer Email Changes
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/news185.html

In May, 11 new figures were added and 62 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 "Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life" at:

https://www.coursera.org/course/neurobio

This month's Site of the Month selection is a "MOOC," a Massive Open Online Course. The Neurobiology of Everyday Life is a free MOOC provided by Coursera and taught by University of Chicago professor Dr. Peggy Mason. This is an introductory class and no prior background in neuroscience is needed. The current course has already started; let's hope they offer it again!
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3. BOOK REVIEW

Farinella, M. and Ros, H., Neurocomic, London: Nobrow Ltd., 2013.

Reading Level: Middle school and up

About a year ago, a web site called "Neurocomic" was selected as the Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month." Now, Neurocomic is a comic book.

In "Neurocomic," authors Matteo Farinella and Hanna Ros tell the story of a man who is transported inside his own brain. In his journey to escape and get back outside, the man meets famous neuroscientists who explain the structure and function of the brain.

In chapter one, Morphology, the man meets neuroanatomist Santiago Ramon y Cajal who explains the structure of neurons. They are met by Camillo Golgi who starts an argument about how neurons are connected. When the man is swallowed by a neuron in chapter two, Pharmacology, he meets Charles Scott Sherrington who explains the synapse. Later on, the man is packaged into a vesicle by Bernard Katz and sent into the synaptic cleft where he meets several neurotransmitters and drugs that affect receptors.

Inside a neuron in chapter 3, Electrophysiology, the man meets Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley who talk about how neurons generate electrical currents and send signals using action potentials. After escaping from inside a neuron, the man washes up on a beach where he meets Eric Kandel and they discuss memory and neuroplasticity (chapter four, Plasticity). They also meet up with Ivan Pavlov who demonstrates his work on conditioned responses.

The man continues his journey up a mountain in chapter 5, Synchronicity, and runs into Hans Berger, the first person to record human brain waves. Their discussions lead to questions about consciousness, perception and the location of the mind.

I highly recommend Neurocomic: it is a fun introduction to neuroscience with plenty of interesting characters to keep readers engaged.
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4. DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION LECTURE

If you're in or around the Seattle area on June 16, 2014, you are welcome to attend a free public lecture ("The Brain on Circuit Training: Finding and Fixing Misfiring Neural Circuitry") by University of Toronto neurosurgeon Dr. Andres Lozano. Dr. Lozano will discuss how deep brain stimulation is being used to treat various neurological disorders and what the future holds for this exciting technology. After the lecture, he will discuss the potential for this technology with science educator and author David Heil and field questions from the audience.

Date: Monday, June 16, 2014 Time: 7 pm Location: Kane Hall, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

This lecture kicks off the NeuroFutures 2014 conference and is brought to you by the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering at the University of Washington, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Oregon Health & Science University and the Northwest NeuroNeighborhood.
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5. THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS

"Thought Experiments on the Question of Being Human: Prosthetics and Neural Enhancements" teams five researchers from the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering with a playwright. Their collaborations have produced five intriguing short plays, each asking the question: How might current and possible future innovations in the fields of prosthetics and neural enhancements change what it means to be human? The production takes place June 13 to 15 in Seattle at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre in the University District, and includes a talk-back following the shows. Tickets are $10 (adults) and $5 (students) and may be purchased in advance through Brown Paper Tickets.
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6. MEDIA ALERT

A. "A Perspective on the Migraine Mind" by Stephen D. Silberstein (AMERICAN SCIENTIST, May-June 2014).

B. "The Neuroscience of Habits" by Ann M. Graybiel and Kyle S. Smith is the cover story of the June, 2014, issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.

C. "Electrify Your Mind" by Greg Miller (WIRED magazine, May 2014) describes home built ways people are using to electrically stimulate their brain.

D. "Brawn v Brain" by (THE ECONOMIST, May 31, 2014).
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7. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A. Otto Loewi, winner of the Nobel prize and discoverer of acetylcholine, was born on June 3, 1873.

B. Using special hairs on its pincers, a scorpion can detect air moving at a speed of only 0.072 km/hr.

C. The total amount of caffeine in a can or bottle of an energy drink varies from about 80 to more than 500 milligrams (mg). A 5-ounce cup of coffee has about 100 mg of caffeine and a 12-ounce cola has about 50 mg of caffeine. (Source: The DAWN Report, SAMHSA, January 10, 2013.)

D. Wild beluga whales can hear frequencies between 4 kHz and 150 kHz (Castellote, M., et al., Baseline hearing abilities and variability in wild beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas), J. Exper. Biology, 217: 1682-1691, 2014.)

E. A tonometer is an instrument used by eye care professionals to measure the intraocular pressure of the eye.
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8. 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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9. SUMMER EMAIL CHANGES

If your email address will change over the summer, please let me know (email: chudler@u.washington.edu) so you will not miss an issue of this newsletter.
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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)