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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 February including:
A. February Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2902.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/
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The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for February is the "Jane the Brain" at:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/get-involved/science-education/video-series-jane-the-brain
"Jane the Brain" is a three part video series produced by the National Institute of Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health. The videos follow Jane the Brain as she navigates the feelings of stress, frustration and sadness and how these emotions affect the brain. The videos are intended for elementary school children and only about two minutes in length. Additional resources, such as pamphlets, coloring books, activity books, fact sheets and quizzes are also available by clicking on the "Resources for Students and Educators" link.
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Judging for the 2025 Neuroscience for Kids Drawing Contest has been completed and winners have been sent their prizes. This year, 165 drawings from around the world were entered into this year's contest including artwork from Turkey, Jamaica, Cyprus, Philippines, China, India, Denmark, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Tajikistan, Norway, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Romania and the United States. You can see the winning entries here:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest25.html
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The DO-IT Center and Center for Neurotechnology at the University of Washington is sponsoring a free summer program (August 4-8, 2025). The program is open to high school students who are citizens and permanent residents of the United States and its possessions who identify as neurodiverse learners. I will serve as the education director of this camp. Students will learn about neuroscience, neural engineering, and neuroethics. The goal is to expose students to the field of neuroscience and provide basic preparation for college studies in STEM subjects and future STEM careers. For more information about this summer program, see:
https://www.washington.edu/doit/programs/nnl/summer-program
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Brain Awareness Week (BAW), a global event to promote the public and personal benefits of brain research, will be held this month from March 10-16, 2025.
I'll be busy with several BAW activities including a visit to an elementary school, the BAW Open House at the University of Washington and BrainFest at the Pacific Science Center (Seattle, WA).
For more about BAW, visit:
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A. "The Brain Science of Elusive 'Aha! Moments'" (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, March, 2025).
B. "Rise of Consciousness" is the cover story in the March/April 2025 issue of AMERICAN SCIENTIST.
C. "Ancient Egyptians Dabbled in Brain Surgery" and "A Dose of Dance" (DISCOVER magazine, March/April 2025).
D. "A Dopamine Detox Does Little for Your Brain" and "Detecting Dementia" (BBC SCIENCE FOCUS magazine, February, 2025).
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A. Anechoic Chamber at The Orfield Laboratories, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN, has been called the "Quietest Place on Earth" (Source: https://www.orfieldlabs.com/labs/anechoic-chamber).
B. Snakes that hunt during the day have eyes that block ultraviolet light while snakes that hunt during the night have eyes that allow passage of ultraviolet light (Source: https://tinyurl.com/2s4j9nm9).
C. Drawing things you want to remember can be an effective memory aid (Source: Meade, et al., Drawing as an encoding tool: Memorial benefits in younger and older adults, Experimental Aging Research, 44:369-396, 2018).
D. Increased blood flow to the temporoparietal junction area of the brain may be related to a better ability to remember dreams (Source: Eichenlaub, J.B., et al., Resting brain activity varies with dream recall frequency between subjects, Neuropsychopharmacol., 39:1594-1602, 2014).
E. Ultraprocessed food may speed cognitive decline later in life (Source: Gomes Gonçalves, N., et al., Association between consumption of ultraprocessed foods and cognitive decline, JAMA Neurol., 80:142-150, 2023).
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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.