NEUROSCIENCE COMPETITION CHALLENGES LOCAL STUDENTS TO LEARN BRAIN FACTS
2/1/2005
For immediate release.
NR-02-05 (02/01/05). For more information, please contact Dawn McCoy at (202) 462-6688 or dawn@sfn.org.
NEUROSCIENCE COMPETITION CHALLENGES LOCAL STUDENTS TO LEARN BRAIN FACTS
WASHINGTON, DC February 1, 2005 – Students from 12 local high schools will compete in the National Capital Area Brain Bee Tuesday, February 8, 2005. Sponsored by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), the NRTA: AARP's Educator Community, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the live Q&A competition will test competitors' grasp of neuroscience concepts. The competition will take place at AAAS, 1200 New York Avenue, NW, from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
The brain bee is open to students in grades 9 to 12 in the Washington, DC, metro area. Contestants will answer questions culled from SfN's publication, Brain Facts¸ a 52-page primer on the brain and nervous system. Participants will vie for cash prizes and the opportunity to represent the National Capital Area in the International Brain Bee Championship at the University of Maryland during Brain Awareness Week, held March 14 – 20, 2005.
Judging the competition will be Emmeline Edwards, acting deputy director for extramural research and program director of the systems and cognitive neuroscience cluster at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Students from the Barrie School, Benjamin Banneker High School, Blair High School, Landon High School, Loudoun County High School, Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville High School, Spingarn High School, Thomas Jefferson High School, Washington International School, West Springfield High School, and Wheaton High School will compete at the event.
Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is a worldwide series of educational events designed to increase public awareness about the wonders of the brain and nervous system, to focus national and international attention on the progress in and benefits of neuroscience research, and to help people of all ages and backgrounds understand more about the “universe between their ears.” For more information about BAW, visit www.sfn.org/baw or www.dana.org/brainweek .
Reporters interested in attending the competition are urged to contact Dawn McCoy at (202) 462-6688. The entrance to AAAS is located at the intersection of 12th and H streets. The competition will be held on the second floor.
