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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 August including:
A. August Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2408.html
B. New Neuroscience in the News
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for September is "The Science of Brain Mapping" at:
https://science.eyewire.org/home
"The Science of Brain Mapping" site was created by the people who developed the citizen science game called "Eyewire" and is closely associated with the laboratory of Dr. Sebastian Seung at Princeton University. The site provides an interesting introduction to neuroscience with short discussions about neurons (action potentials, neurotransmitters), the brain, and artificial intelligence. The collection of colorful drawings, cartoons and images of neurons makes this web site unique and fun to explore.
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Earlier this summer I hosted about 70 high school students in a Center for Neurotechnology virtual neural engineering camp program called the "Virtual REACH Program." During this one week camp, students were introduced to the fields of neuroscience, neural engineering, and neuroethics. Each day of the program had a different theme: neuroscience, brain-computer interfaces, electrical stimulation, neuroethics, career/academic pathways. Live videoconferences with lectures and discussions with researchers were supported with at-home activities. Students used a digital "Pressbook" and online bulletin board at their own pace to learn more about each topic. You can read the Pressbook here: https://uw.pressbooks.pub/yspreach2020/
Details about the Virtual REACH Program were published last month in the journal Biomedical Engineering Education (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43683-020-00011-2; Bergsman, K.C. and Chudler, E.H. Adapting a Neural Engineering Summer Camp for High School Students to a Fully Online Experience. Biomed Eng Education, 2020).
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The Child Mind Institute and Hunter College are sponsoring the Rising Scientist Award for high school students entering their senior year who demonstrate superior academic performance in science and show promise in research in the fields of mental health, neuroscience or biomedical engineering. Winners receive a $2,000 scholarship for college expenses and the opportunity to interact with scientists at special events.
Nominations are due on September 10, 2020. For more details and a nomination form, see:
https://childmind.org/our-research/rising-scientist-scholarship/
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A. "20 Things You Didn't Know About Learning" (DISCOVER magazine, September/October 2020).
B. "How to Sleep Better" (TIME magazine, August 17-24, 2020) is a collection of several articles about getting a good night's rest.
C. The cover story of the August 21-28, 2020 issue of NEWSWEEK magazine is about addiction and the brain.
D. The September, 2020 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine has several interesting neuroscience articles including "The Robots are Here," "A Brain Circuitry Map Worth Buzzing About," and "Shocking Behavior" (about electric eels).
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A. One in three (800 million) children around the world have dangerous blood levels of lead, a neurotoxin. (Source: https://www.unicef.org/reports/toxic-truth-childrens-exposure-to-lead-pollution-2020)
B. The extinct dodo bird was likely as intelligent as a pigeon. The dodo also had a large olfactory bulb suggesting that the bird had a good sense of smell. (Source: Baptista, F.G. and Healy, P., The Dodo's New Look, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine, August, 2020.)
C. Rattlesnake venom contains a neurotoxin; wearing denim clothing likely reduces the amount of venom injected by rattlesnakes. (Source: Herbert, S.S. and Hayes, W.K. Denim clothing reduces venom expenditure by rattlesnakes striking defensively at model human limbs. Ann Emerg Med., 54:830-836, 2009.)
D. New studies show that that surface area of cerebellar cortex is 1,590 square centimeters. (Source: Sereno et al., The human cerebellum has almost 80% of the surface area of the neocortex, PNAS, 117:19538-19543, 2020.)
E. If you see a word starting with the prefix "encephal-," then the meaning has something to do with the brain because "encephala" comes from the Greek word for "brain."
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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.