Brain Bee tests student knowledge

Fifty-two San Diego County High School students will compete on Jan. 30 in Southern California’s second Brain Bee, a friendly competition to test their knowledge of the brain.

They will answer questions about the brain and how it relates to intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, aging, sleep and neurological disorders, such as drug addiction, Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. The winner will receive a $500 gift certificate, trophy and airfare and hotel for two with an invitation to the National Brain Bee in March.

The 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. event will be held at The Neurosciences Institute Auditorium. It is open to the public.

Among those competing will be La Jolla High School students Alexandra Castillejos, Benjamin Gammage and Ian Trahan; and La Jolla Country Day’s Jack Cassou and Sujin Park.

The Brain Bee is sponsored by Life Technologies, the Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation, The Neurosciences Institute, the San Diego Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience and the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center.

Dr. Nicholas Spitzer, a UCSD biology professor, will act as host of the competition, with many other prominent scientists in attendance.

Questions for the local Brain Bee will be derived from the 2008 edition of “Brain Facts” published by the Society for Neuroscience. The book is available at www.sfn.org.

For more information, please contact Debbie Honeycutt at (858) 626-2020 or honeycutt@

nsi.edu.