NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTER
Volume 20, Issue 5 (May, 2016)

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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. BrainWorks: Exercise and the Brain
4. Brain Awareness Video Contest
5. Neuroengineering and Neurotechnology
6. Media Alert
7. Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
8. Support Neuroscience for Kids
9. 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 April including:

A. April Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news204.html
B. Neuroscience in the News
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html
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2. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS "SITE OF THE MONTH"

The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for May is the "National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)" at:

https://www.nami.org/

NAMI is a national organization dedicated to helping people affected by mental illness. The NAMI web site provides resources for people (and their friends and family) who have mental health issues.

Students doing research can also find plenty of information.about different mental health conditions such as ADHD, autism, depression, posttraumatic stress and schizophrenia. Navigate from the "Learn More" tab to "Mental Health By the Numbers" and "Infographics & Fact Sheets" for some fascinating facts and figures about mental illness.

The NAMI web site lists many outreach events, so if you would like to get more involved, you can join NAMI-sponsored events such as walkathons and community awareness activities.
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3. BRAINWORKS: EXERCISE AND THE BRAIN

The new episode of the BrainWorks TV show has been released! Join me and five kids as we learn how exercise affects the body and the brain. We do memory experiments, visit pediatrician Dr. Pooja Tandon at Seattle Children's Hospital and talk to Dr. John Medina about the benefits of exercise.

This new show debuts on TV on May 1, 2016 at 8:30 pm (Seattle Time), but you can watch it anytime through the UWTV web site at:

http://uwtv.org/series/brainworks/

I have also made a viewer's guide that you can use before and after you watch the program:

http://uwtv.org/files/2015/05/BrainWorks_exercise_guide.pdf

Many thanks to the Dean Witter Foundation and the Dana Foundation for supporting the production of the show.
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4. BRAIN AWARENESS VIDEO CONTEST

If you like neuroscience and have a talent making videos, why not combine your interests and enter the Society for Neuroscience Brain Awareness Video contest?

Anyone can enter the contest, but you must work with a member of the Society for Neuroscience. If you don't know a member of the Society for Neuroscience, then use the "Find a Neuroscientist" to locate one.

Your video should be professional, not too long, without complicated words, and entertaining. The first place winner will receive $1,000 plus travel, lodging and registration to the Neuroscience meeting in San Diego, CA, in November. There is prize money for the second, third and People's Choice winners too.

Contest videos must be received by June 16. For more details about the contest, visit the Society for Neuroscience web site at:

http://www.brainfacts.org/educators/get-involved/articles-folder/brain-awareness-video-contest/
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5. NEUROENGINEERING AND NEUROTECHNOLOGY

As part of my work at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, I participated in a joint conference with the BrainLinks-BrainTools program from Freiburg, Germany. Scientists from around the world met in Arlington, Virginia, to talk about the opportunities and challenges involved with developing new devices to help people with neurological disorders. You can read an early release of this paper here:

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=7435275&filter%3DAND%28p_IS_Number%3A4359967%29
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6. MEDIA ALERT

A. "Beautiful minds, wasted" (autism) is the cover story of the April 16, 2016, issue of THE ECONOMIST.

B. "Life After Almost-Death" By Amy Paturel (DISCOVER magazine, May, 2016).

C. "Why We Itch by Stephani Sutherland (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, May, 2016).

D. "How to Plug In Your Brain" by David Noonan (SMITHSONIAN magazine May, 2016).
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7. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A. Using MRI brain scanning methods, researchers have found that more than 40% of retired National Football League players have traumatic brain injuries. (Source: American Academy of Neurology, https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1453)

B. The eyes of many birds take up about 50% of the volume of their skulls; the eyes of humans take up only 5% of the volume of their skulls (Source: Bonnan, Matthew F., The Bare Bones. An unconventional evolutionary history of the skeleton, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016).

C. The "medulla oblongata" gets its name from Latin words meaning "innermost" (medulla) and "rather long" (oblongata).

D. Scorpions can have as many as 12 eyes.

E. The eyelid has the thinnest skin on the entire body. (Source: Sims, M., Adam's Navel, New York: Viking, 2003)
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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. 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)