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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 October including:
A. October Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2810.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. Czech Language Translation of Brain Development http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/trans.html
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for November is NOBA "The Brain" at:
https://nobaproject.com/modules/the-brain
For a textbook introduction to the brain, turn to the NOBA "The Brain" website. NOBA's presentation does not have the bells and whistles of other web sites, but you will find a straight-forward description of brain anatomy and a discussion of some of the methods used to study the brain. A list of vocabulary at the end of the web site is a nice touch. Additional information about neurons and neurotransmission would be a welcomed addition to the site.
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Get out your pencils, pens and markers! The 2025 NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS DRAWING CONTEST is now open to students in kindergarten through high school, teachers and parents. Use your imagination to draw a picture about the nervous system and you might win a prize. The complete set of rules and the official entry form for the contest are available at:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest25.html
Good luck to everyone!
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It may seem early, but now is the time to plan for 2025 Brain Awareness Week (BAW). In 2025, the official week for BAW is March 10-16. Do not wait to make plans! Here are some general ideas that might help:
A. Have a neuroscientist visit your class: send an email to the psychology, biology or neuroscience department at your local university and see if they can send a neuroscientist out to your school. It won't hurt to ask. You can also visit the Society for Neuroscience/Dana Foundation "Find a Neuroscientist" website to find a speaker: https://www.brainfacts.org/fan.
B. Ask your public library or school library to set up a display of brain-related books. You can suggest books for the librarian to display, make artwork or a poster, or provide brain and neuron models to go along with the display.
C. Invite a neuroscientist to give a public lecture or a talk at a school assembly or library.
D. Decorate your classroom or school hallways with projects related to the nervous system.
E. Do a brain-related science fair project.
F. Write a letter for your school newspaper about the importance of brain research.
G. Do some Brain Awareness Week activities (see links below for ideas).
H. Visit your local science museum. Many museums have special exhibits during BAW.
BAW Resources:
Dana Foundation, Brain Awareness Week
Neuroscience for Kids (Models)
Neuroscience for Kids (Experiments)
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Project Encephalon and Simply Neuroscience, two youth-led neuroscience outreach organizations, are sponsoring the NeuroNovember Convention 2024 (November 9-10, 2024). During the online conference, attendees will explore neuroscience through lectures, workshops, poster sessions and networking activities. To register and learn more about the NeuroNovember Convention, visit:
https://www.neuronovember.org/
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As I was cleaning up recently, I found a notebook from 11 years ago that contains records of my nightly dreams. The notebook has records of my dreams for every day for six consecutive months. Each morning when I woke up, I recorded as much of a dream as I could remember. Last month, I decided to record my dreams again.
According to a 2020 paper that analyzed the dreams of 1,546 children and adults, the four most common things people dream about were 1) being chased/pursued, 2) school, teachers, and studying, 3) trying again and again to do something, and 4) falling. These data are similar to the results of a 2023 survey of recurrent dream reports of 2,007 adults in the United States. In this 2023 survey, the most common recurrent dream themes were 1) falling, 2) being chased; 3) being back in school, 4) being unprepared for a test or important event and 5) flying.
For the past month, I have been keeping a new sleep/dream journal. Reading through this new journal I have discovered that the content of my dreams is a bit different than that detailed in the 2020 and 2023 surveys. I never had a dream about being chased, school/studying, being unprepared, or falling. Only one of my dreams over the past month had anything to do with flying. Many of my dreams have me climbing mountains, walking on trails or riding in cars.
In addition to recording what I dream about, I also note when I go to sleep and when I wake up to determine how much sleep I am getting each night. Getting a good night's sleep is very important for overall health. I am happy to report that on average, I get a little more than 8 hours of sleep each night. This duration is within the 7-9 hours of sleep recommended for adults.
Here are some tips if you would like to make a record of your dreams:
A. When you wake up, immediately start writing about your dreams. If you wait, you risk forgetting your dream. You can use a notebook or journal to record your dreams, or print out multiple copies of this handy form: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chsleep.html
B. Keep a sleep journal and pen near your bed. When you wake up, your journal will be right next to you. Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of night, I scribble a few words about a dream and then go back to sleep. When I wake up in the morning, these words remind me of the dream and I can fill in the details about of my dream in the sleep journal.
C. If you don't want to write down your dreams right away, you could speak into your phone to record a summary of your dream. Then when you have time, listen to the recording and transcribe the audio recording into your journal. You may be able to use a voice-to-text app so you don't have to write the dream record yourself. If you digitize your dream record, then you could use a program to analyze common themes or words that appear in your dreams.
References:
Maggiolini, A., et al., The typical dreams in the life cycle, Int. J. Dream Research, 13: 17-28, 2020.
Survey of 2,007 Americans, Amerisleep, 2023, https://amerisleep.com/blog/americas-common-recurring-dreams/
How Much Sleep Is Enough?, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep/how-much-sleep
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A. Several interesting short articles in the October 2024 issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine about cyborg worms, brain scans of jazz musicians, caterpillars that can detect the electrical field of wasps, and ultrasonic stimulation of the brain to improve mindfulness.
B. The cover story in the November-December 2024 issue of DISCOVER magazine is "Can AI Read Your Mind."
C. The cover story in the October 12, 2024, issue of NEW SCIENTIST magazine is "Your Brain's Master Switch."
D. The November 2024 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine is devoted to artificial intelligence and how it is being used in different fields.
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A. The word "acetylcholine" comes from the Latin word "acetum" that means vinegar and the Greek word "chole" that means bile.
B. John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for their "foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks" (Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/summary/).
C. 1 in 5 adults experience a mental illness each year (Source, National Alliance on Mental Illness, https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/mental-health-by-the-numbers/).
D. Australian Samuel Richards won the 2024 International Brain Bee and received a $3,000 prize. Lisa Wei from Canada won second place and $2,000; Jerry (Siqi) Pan from China won third place and $1,000. All of the winners are 16 years old. (Source, International Brain Bee, https://www.thebrainbee.org/).
E. Young children who do not use screens an hour before bedtime have improved sleep quality and fewer night awakenings (Source: Pickard, H., et al., Toddler screen use before bed and Its effect on sleep and attention, JAMA Pediatrics, 2024; DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3997).
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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.