[Nfknews] Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter (February, 2010)

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Feb 1, 2010, 12:23:36 PM2/1/10
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NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTER - Volume 14, Issue 2 (February, 2010)
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Welcome to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter.

Here is what you will find in this issue:

1.  What's New at Neuroscience for Kids
2.  Neuroscience for Kids Site of the Month
3.  2010 Brain Awareness Week
4.  Neuroscience for Kids Writing Contest
5.  New Translations
6.  Chopstick Accident
7.  Sensory Idioms
8.  Media Alert
9.  Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
10. Support Neuroscience for Kids
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1. WHAT'S NEW AT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

Neuroscience for Kids had several new additions in January including:

A. January Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
B. US Sees Increase in Nearsightedness
C. Cadmium Used in Toys?

In January, 8 new figures were added and 48 pages were modified.

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2. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS "SITE OF THE MONTH"

The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for February is the "Howard
Hughes Medical Institute Neuroscience Lecture Series" at:


Since 1997, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has featured
neuroscience in three of its Holiday Lectures Series:  "Making Your Mind:
Molecules, Motion, and Memory" (2008), "Learning from Patients:  The
Science of Medicine" (2003) and "Senses and Sensitivity: Neuronal
Alliances for Sight and Sound" (1997).  The lectures and discussion
sessions are available for each series on the HHMI web site via Flash and
RealPlayer.

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3. 2010 BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK

Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is next month!  I hope you will participate at
your own school or in your neighborhood.  For more information about BAW,
please visit the Dana Alliance and Society for Neuroscience web sites at:


Show your BRAINY spirit:  http://www.neuro4kids.com

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4. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS WRITING CONTEST - CLOSED

The 2010 NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS POETRY WRITING CONTEST is now closed and
judging has begun.  Winners will be announced soon.

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5.  NEW TRANSLATIONS

Sections of the Neuroscience for Kids web site can be read in Spanish,
Slovene, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Dutch, Japanese and
Turkish.  New translations of the site in Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi and Hindi
should be added later this year.  Current translations of Neuroscience for
Kids are located at:


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6.  CHOPSTICK ACCIDENT

Last month, news agencies reported about the unfortunate accident suffered
by a 14-month-old boy in China.  The boy, Li Jingchao, was playing with
chopsticks when he fell.  One chopstick went through one of his nostrils
and ended up 4 millimeters into his brain!  A spokesman at a Beijing
hospital said that neurosurgeons removed the chopstick without causing too
much bleeding.  Although young Li developed an infection, he was expected
to be released from the hospital in about one week.  Let's hope for a
speedy, uneventful recovery for Li.

The Mind Hacks web site (http://www.mindhacks.com/) reports that chopstick
injuries are not uncommon;  there are 13 published reports of such
incidents.

Perhaps the safety advice you hear from your parents and teachers should
be changed to "Don't run with scissors...or chopsticks."

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7.  SENSORY IDIOMS

An idiom is an expression or saying that becomes part of popular culture.
Idioms often cannot be understood from the individual words that make up
the expression.  For example, the expression "I heard it through the
grapevine" does not mean "I heard something by listening to a plant that
produces grapes."  Rather, it means that something was heard through a
network of people.  English is filled with idioms that spice up language.
Here are some idioms that focus on the senses:

A.  "I'm all ears" means to pay attention.

B.  "Apple of my eye" means that something is greatly valued.  This saying
may have its origins in the thought that the pupil of the eye is shaped
like an apple.

C.  "Blind as a bat" means that someone cannot see.  This saying has been
around since the 1500s, but it is based on the incorrect assumption that
bats are blind.  Actually, bats have good vision.

D.  "Come up smelling like roses" means that a bad situation turned out
fine.

E.  "Having cold feet" means that someone has lost confidence or is afraid
of doing something.  This expression has been around since the 1800s and
may come from the observation of soldiers running away from battle.

F.  "Eyes in the back of the head" means that someone can see what is
happening even without looking.

G.  "In one ear and out the other" means that someone is not paying
attention.  Quintilian, a Roman orator in the first century A.D., is
credited with coining this expression.  In the 13th century, English poet
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a variation of the original Latin phrase.

H.  "More than meets the eye" means that there is a hidden meaning.  This
saying was first used in the 1800s by the British.

I.  "On the tip of your tongue" means that something is temporarily
forgotten and almost remembered.  This expression was first used by Daniel
Defoe in his book, "Moll Flanders."

J. "Play it by ear" means to do something without much planning.

Reference: Terban, M., Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms, New York:
Scholastic, Inc., 1996.

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8. MEDIA ALERT

A. "Overcoming Phobias" by Lev Grossman (Time magazine, January 11, 2010).

B. "Workouts for Your Brain" by Bonnie Rochman (Time magazine, January 18,
2010) discusses the controversies about cognitive fitness products.
Also, the cover story in this issue is titled "Why Your DNA Isn't Your
Destiny" by John Cloud.

C.  Charlie Rose Brain Series at:

D.  The cover of the Winter 2010 issue of The American Scholar magazine is
"Our Mind-Boggling Brain."  This magazine features the article "My Brain
on My Mind" by Priscilla Long.

E.  "'Impossible'" Colors: See Hues That Can't Exist" by Vincent A.
Billock and Brian H. Tsou (Scientific American, February, 2010).

F.  Public evening conference on "Human Locomotion Sciences, Memory and
Cognitive Performance", Friday, March 19, 2010, 8:45 pm, Castagnaro Civic
Hall, Castagnaro, Italy.  This conference will discuss how exercise may
reduce the risk of age-related cognitive decline.

G.  "The Most Dangerous Game" is the cover story of the February 8, 2010
issue of Time magazine.  This issue contains articles that discuss brain
and spinal cord injuries suffered by football players.

H.  "The Depressing News about Antidepressants" is the cover story of the
February 8, 2010 issue of Newsweek magazine.

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9. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A.  Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the United States to earn a
medical degree, was born on February 3, 1821.

B.  February is Age-Related Macular Degeneration/Low Vision Awareness
Month and Wise Mental Health Consumer Month.

C.  The estimated prevalence of mental disorders in children (8 to 15
years old) in the United States:  8.6% have ADHD; 3.7% have depression;
2.1% have conduct disorder; 0.7% have an anxiety disorder and 0.1% have an
eating disorder (anorexia or bulimia).  (Source:  National Institute of

D.  The density of receptor cells in the humpback whale cochlea is 2,600
cells/mm; in humans, the density of receptors cells in the cochlea is
1,000 cells/mm.  (Source:  Branstetter, B.K. and Mercado III, E., Sound
localization by cetaceans, International Journal of Comparative
Psychology, 19: 26-61, 2006)

E.  Richard Axel, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in
2004, played basketball against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew
Alcindor) when they were both high school students in New York.
Abdul-Jabbar scored 54 points, Axel scored 2 points.  Abdul-Jabbar went on
to play basketball at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and
in the National Basketball Association (NBA); Axel became a neuroscientist
and Nobel Prize winner.  (Source:  Autobiography by Richard Axel at:

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10. SUPPORT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

To ensure that Neuroscience for Kids stays available, we need your help.
All contributions to Neuroscience for Kids are tax deductible (subject to
IRS regulations). If you would like to donate to Neuroscience for Kids,
please visit:

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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.
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