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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 January including:
A. January Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2601.html
B. New Neuroscience in the News
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html
C. Visit or follow my Instagram site with neuroscience facts and trivia:
https://www.instagram.com/ericchudler/
D. Junk Food, Micronutrients, and the Brain
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/jfood.html
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for February is "CrashCourse" at:
https://teachaids.org/for-concussions/crashcourse/
"CrashCourse" is a concussion education program developed by TeachAids, a non-profit organization based in Palo Alto, CA. The CrashCourse web site contains free videos and virtual reality materials for athletes, parents, and coaches with information about how to prevent and treat concussions.
I suggest that you start your CrashCourse visit with the Products page (CrashCourse | Concussion Story Wall) where you will find videos featuring professional and amateur athletes, medical experts and caregivers who tell their stories about concussions. The Products page has two longer videos with Bryce Love (Heisman Trophy Runner-Up) and Kate Courtney (World Mountain Biking Champion) with information about concussion symptoms, prevention and treatment, and the brain. These two videos are also available to download to use with an Oculus Rift/Rift S virtual reality device. The video with Kate Courtney has a Teachers Guide to use before and after viewing of the video.
Even if you are not an athlete or coach, the CrashCourse material is important because it will help you understand concussions and the consequences of brain injuries.
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The 2022 NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS POETRY CONTEST is now closed and judging has begun. Winners will be notified by March 1, 2022.
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High school students can enter the Neuroethics Essay Contest, sponsored by the International Neuroethics Society and the International Youth Neuroscience Association.. Winners will receive a free 1-year INS student membership ($30 value) and a $250 prize. The contest also has a separate submission category for general audiences and academics. The deadline for entries is July 1, 2022. Contest rules are available at:
https://neuroethicsessaycontest.com/call/
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International Brain Awareness Week will take place next month in March. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with the necessity for many health and safety precautions, makes it impossible to plan and host large groups of people for Brain Awareness Week (BAW) events at the University of Washington this year. Last year I hosted a large virtual "Open House," but this year I have something else in mind. This year, 2022 UW BAW will have a Speakers Bureau with neuroscientists interested to share their passion for brain research with others in smaller groups. Presenters in the Speakers Bureau will be matched with teachers for virtual or possibly in-person classroom presentations.
Here is the way the Speakers Bureau works:
A. Teachers visit the Speakers Bureau web site: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/bawspeakers.html
B. Teachers complete the online application form available on the Speakers Bureau web site.
C. I connect teachers with a potential speaker. Speakers are responsible for developing their own presentations, but I'll help them if they need it.
D. Arrangements (e.g., date, time, virtual/in-person, place) are made between the presenter and teacher.
If there is a high demand for speakers, I may not be able to match all teachers/classes with a presenter, but I'll try my best. Please let me know if you have any questions about the UW BAW Speakers Bureau.
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Do you need to new background for your next Zoom class or meeting? If you do, head over to the Society for Neuroscience web site to download some Brainy Zoom Backgrounds:
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New research details how the African hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious) acts more territorially to the grunts made by strangers than to grunts made by members of its own group. Stranger grunts caused more aggressive behavior. Scientists suggest that playing recordings of hippo sounds from an unfamiliar group may benefit conservation efforts by helping hippos adapt before they are moved to a new area.
Source: Thévenet, J. et al., Voice-mediated interactions in a megaherbivore, Current Biology, 32:PR70-R71, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.017
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A. The Winter 2022 issue of the Dana Foundation publication "Cerebrum" is now online at: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/40003043/ https://online.flippingbook.com/view/40003043/
B. "Brain-Computer Interface Turns Thoughts to Text" (DISCOVER magazine, January-February, 2022).
C. "Tiny Lights in the Brain's Black Box" (American Scientist, January-February, 2022).
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A. Actress/comedian Betty White passed away on December 21, 2021, after suffering a stroke.
B. Honeybees prefer to turn right when they enter an open cavity (Source: O'Shea-Wheller, T. A., Honeybees show a context-dependent rightward bias, Biol. Lett.,152018087720180877 http://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0877, 2019).
C. The brain area called the "locus ceruleus" gets its name from Latin meaning "blue spot."
D. Brain Awareness Week is next month, March 14-20, 2022.
E. David Hunter Hubel (1926-2013), who won a share of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work about information processing in the visual system, was born on February 27, 1926.
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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.