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Welcome to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter.
In this issue:
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Neuroscience for Kids had several new additions in June including:
A. June Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2206.html
B. Neuroscience in the News
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html
The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for July is "KSPHD" at:
http://www.kayleenschreiber.com/
KSPHD is just short for the full name of the author of this month's site, Kayleen Schreiber, Ph.D. Dr. Schreiber received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from University of Iowa in 2017 and now spends her time developing new, simple and effective ways to communicate science to the public.
Click on "PORTFOLIO" at the top of the web site to view Dr. Schreiber's fantastic illustrations, animations and infographics about the nervous system. Capgras syndrome, mental illness, and synesthesia are just a few of the topics discussed using animation. As a content editor and visual designer for Knowing Neurons (https://knowingneurons.com/; a February, 2014, Neuroscience for Kids Page of the Month selection), Dr. Schreiber has contributed to a series about "Weird Animal Brains." You can find these fascinating descriptions of animal brains on her own web site. Dr. Schreiber has licensed the work for noncommercial purposes as long as you give her credit for creating the material. The materials are not only accurate and informative, they are also fun and entertaining.
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Good news! Funding to support the next episode of the BrainWorks TV show is complete, so the show will go on. The new episode of BrainWorks will focus on neural engineering and devices that are being built to help people who have spinal cord injuries or suffered a stroke. Thank you to the Dana Foundation, the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, White Matter LLC and the University of Washington Department of Bioengineering for their contributions to BrainWorks.
__________________________________________________________Most departments in medical schools and hospitals have regular meetings called grand rounds. During grand rounds, physicians, medical students and other health professionals keep up-to-date on the most recent research findings that impact the care of their patients. Sometimes a patient's case is discussed, but other times speakers talk about their research or work. Last month, the University of Washington Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine invited me to present at their grand rounds.
My grand rounds talk focused on two areas: research and education. I started my presentation by describing how I use planaria worms to study regeneration. These little worms have the ability to regenerate new body parts because they are loaded with neoblasts (pluripotent stem cells). Research with planaria may lead to new treatments and therapies for people with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. After presenting my new data to the attendees, I switched gears and talked about neuroscience education and the ways that I work with students, teachers and the general public.
I left time at the end of my talk for questions from the audience. One person said she didn't have a question, but instead had a comment. She said she had a daughter who was now in graduate school studying neuroscience. She went on to say that I had visited her daughter's classroom many years ago and that because of that visit her daughter decided to become a neuroscientist. I responded that I didn't think I was responsible for her daughter's decision to be a neuroscientist. The woman said I could take credit because her daughter told her that it was my visit that got her interested in brain research.
It isn't often I hear about the personal impact that my work has on others, but as you can imagine, it is always rewarding to know that my work is appreciated.
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A. "Intelligence" is the cover story in the Spring 2018 issue of POPULAR SCIENCE.
B. "Do you really know yourself" is the cover story in the July 2018 issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND.
C. "How to overcome antiscientific thinking" by Douglas T. Kenrick, Adam B. Cohen, Steven L. Neuberg and Robert B. Cialdini (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, July 2018).
D. "Dogs, when you count neurons, have a lot more than cats" by Josh Fischman (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, July 2018).
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A. African elephants sleep only 2 hours each day. (Source: Gravett, N., et al. (2017) Inactivity/sleep in two wild free-roaming African elephant matriarchs - Does large body size make elephants the shortest mammalian sleepers? PLoS ONE 12(3): e0171903, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171903.)
B. The word "paranoia" comes from the Greek words meaning "beside" or "beyond" and "mind."
C. In 2017, an estimated 2.5 million high school students reported having at least one concussion related to sports or physical activity and an estimated 1.0 million students reported having two or more concussions. (Source: DePadilla L, et al., Self-reported concussions from playing a sport or being physically active among high school students-United States, 2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67:682-685. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6724a3)
D. The brain size to body weight ratio is smaller in domestic rabbits than it is in wild rabbits. (Source: Brusini, I., et al., Changes in brain architecture are consistent with altered fear processing in domestic rabbits, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jun 2018, 201801024; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1801024115).
E. On July 3, 1946, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed the National Mental Health Act.
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Help Neuroscience for Kids
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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)