Brainiest of the bunch
February 14th 2010 11:20
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From: The Gazette
Neuro competition
They crammed evenings and weekends, and then excitedly quizzed each about memory, brain parts, neurons and synapses in the car, en route from their school in Ste. Anne de Bellevue to the Montreal Neurological Institute downtown.
Four Macdonald High School students were under pressure to perform yesterday as the only public school to participate in the Neuro's tough science competition, the 2010 Montreal Brain Bee.
Of course, they expected one of their own to make the cut to the final round. And then Jodeci Fernandez Melixi, 16, got named the brainiest of the bunch.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" said Macdonald High School science teacher Tracy Zordan, who popped up in her seat and raised a fist. "I'm so happy for her." Jodeci got every question right.
"She killed it," classmate Karry Dinh said later as the four held miniature plastic brains in their hands for a photograph. "I'm so excited. I can feel the brain power." Thirty students participated from schools including Queen of Angels Academy, Collège Jeanne-Normandin, École Secondaire Pierre-Laporte, The Study and Villa Maria.
The competition is designed to get bright, young minds excited about neuroscience.
It's similar to a traditional spelling bee, except it tests students' knowledge of the brain, memory, sleep, neurology, genetics, brain disease, addiction and much more.
"This is undergraduate level science and it's especially challenging for Grade 9s who don't have much biology," said quiz coordinator Audrey Laferrière, McGill University and Neuro doctoral candidate.
Students get a 60-page primer on the brain called Neuroscience: Science of the Brain, produced by the published by British Neuroscience Association.
Jodeci, who works part-time as a cashier at an IGA and is involved in a school play, said she devoted evenings and weekends to learning about the brain.
"I really studied a lot," she said. "I had no expectations. But I secretly wanted to win." Jodeci is now contemplating a career in neurogenetics.
As the winner, Jodeci will go to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., in May to compete against students from across the country. The winner of that event gets to compete in the International Brain Bee in San Diego, Calif.
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Test your knowledge of the brain, neurons, synapses ...
Sample questions from the Montreal Brain Bee, held yesterday at the Montreal Neurological Institute:
1) What is the main function of the synaptic vesicles?
2) What is the phenomenon of enhanced pain called?
3) Name a structure of the brain implicated in the formation of semantic and episodic memories.
4) 50-80% of the brain's total energy consumption is used in?
5) What is the large fibre tract that connects the left and right cerebral cortex?
6) Which type of photoreceptor allows you to see at night?
7) Which is not an effect of sleep deprivation? a) hallucinatory daydreams, b) difficulty with speech, c) muscle fatigue.
8) The hypothalamus does not control (choose one)? a) eating, b) hormone release, c) breathing, d) drinking
Answers:
1) Storage of neurotransmitters
2) Hyperalgesia
3)Hippocampus, mammillary bodies, thalamus.
4) Conduction
5) The corpus callosum
6) Rods
7) c
8) c
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