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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 July including:
A. July Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2907.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 August is the "Brain Health HUB" at:
https://nanonline.org/Nanweb24/Nanweb/ProfessionalResources/Brain_Health_Hub/Brain_Health_Hub.aspx
The Brain Health HUB was created by the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN) to provide people with ideas for brain healthy lifestyle activities. The site includes tips and videos to help people maintain brain healthy habits, links to original research papers that investigated brain health outcomes, and the BrainWise magazine. For those of you who enjoy podcasts, listen to Brain Beat, the NAN podcast where experts discuss neuroscience, psychology, and brain health.
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Just like the brain, life is in constant change. For me, a big change is that I have entered a new phase of my professional career. On July 1, 2025, I officially retired from my job at the University of Washington (UW). I have been associated with the UW for more than 40 years and thought it was time for change. I am now in UW faculty "emeritus" status. According to the UW, emeritus status is "a lifelong designation that recognizes achievements of those with meritorious records." I am grateful to the UW for granting me this distinguished title. But I am not going anywhere soon. In fact, the UW rehired me immediately on a part-time basis! Although I have closed my research laboratory and will not apply for any new grants, I will continue to work at the UW Center for Neurotechnology and be involved with neuroscience education and outreach programs. Neuroscience for Kids will continue too!
I guess you can say that I have "retired, but not retired."
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As I mentioned above, even though I have entered a new phase of my life, Neuroscience for Kids will continue. As a rehired emeritus faculty member, I retain my online services and resources. I plan to add new materials and continue the development of the site. Over the years, a few people have commented on the look of Neuroscience for Kids. Some people have asked why I don't update the look of the site. The site has undergone major revisions over the years, but it has kept its basic look.
Recently, one Neuroscience for Kids visitor (Sari J.) sent me a note regarding the site. With Sari's permission, I have reprinted this note:
"Your website retains an innocent old school look and I really like that. It's packed with information in a way that feels fun - neither overwhelming me nor making me feel stupid. It doesn't look soullessly minimalistic like many modern hyper-optimized websites do. The positive tone of the writing, the fun colorful look, the knowledge that it's still updated... reading your website just makes me happy and hopeful.
Amidst all the negative news and outrage that fills the Internet today, I had forgotten that it used to be a different kind of place. A place where people all over the world shared in creativity and educated each other, where people had a forward-looking attitude. There were places where people gathered on forums, and discussed science, games, and TV shows like Star Trek: Voyager or The Outer Limits. Personal websites that were windows into other worlds.
I hope that you keep updating your neuroscience site for years to come."
Thank you for your kind words, Sari. I have always tried to make Neuroscience for Kids informative and fun and have valued content over "bells and whistles."
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Last month, I directed the Young Scholars Program-REACH (YSP-REACH) at the Center for Neurotechnology (University of Washington). This program is for high school students interested in learning more about neuroscience and neural engineering. During the one-week YSP-REACH, 22 students attended in-person (full day) and 150 students attended virtually (half day). I started the program with a lecture introducing neuroscience and some of the recent advances in neural engineering. Throughout the week, the students heard from different researchers including Dr. Jeffrey Herron who spoke about deep brain stimulation, Dr. Chet Moritz who discussed electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, Dr. Amy Orsborn who talked about brain computer interfaces and Dr. Sara Goering who presented on neuroethics.
In addition to attending lectures, students who attended in-person created model neurons and brains, spoke with a panel of undergraduate and graduate neuroscience students, toured the Amplifying Movement & Performance Lab, visited the UW Medicinal Herb Garden and UW Greenhouse, and played the NeuroFutures Card game (https://www.nisenet.org/catalog/neuro-futures-card-game). All students used the YSP-REACH Pressbook (https://uw.pressbooks.pub/yspreach25/) to prepare for each lesson and expand their knowledge of neuroscience and neural engineering concepts.
It was a very busy schedule, but students told me that they enjoyed the week and learned many new things. Some selected student comments:
"I really enjoyed being part of it and learning more about the different sides of neuroscience and neurotechnology. The neuroethics session especially caught my attention."
"I just wanted to say thank you for such a fun and inspiring week at YSP-REACH! I really appreciated how welcoming and encouraging you were throughout the program. I especially loved how you took the time to answer all my (many) questions."
"Thank you so much for the time and the informative lectures that you provided. I've been particularly interested in Electrical Engineering, and it was very interesting to see the application of that major within neurotechnology developments."
"This week has been so much fun and it has been worth every minute. Not only did I learn more about neural engineering, I also learned about connecting fields, as well as how to navigate myself in the real world."
"It was a truly enriching and inspiring experience that deepened my interest in the field. I especially enjoyed learning about the different aspects of neuroscience, and I appreciated how the program combined hands-on activities with thought-provoking discussions. It's been incredibly motivating to be surrounded by others who are just as curious about the brain and its complexities."
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A. Several interesting articles in the July/August 2025 issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN including: "This Impossible New Color Is So Rare That Only Five People Have Seen It," "Cuttlefish May Communicate with Discolike Arm Gestures," "Injured Skin Cells Fire like Neurons to 'Scream' for Help," "When Letting Your Mind Wander Helps You Learn."
B. "Systematizing Scents" (AMERICAN SCIENTIST, July/August 2025).
C. "The Hidden Talents of Nature's Unloved" (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, July 2025).
D. "Life Out of Balance" (SMITHSONIAN, July/August 2025).
E. "There is No Color in the World" (NATURAL HISTORY, July/August 2025).
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A. A postage stamp honoring neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield was issued by Canada Post on March 15, 1991.
B. Nocturnal lagophthalmos ("lagophthalmos" means "hare-like eyes") is the condition where people sleep with their eyes open.
C. Most people know about 5,000 faces (Source: Jenkins, R., et al., How many faces do people know? Proc. R. Soc. B. 28520181319, 2018).
D. August is Neurosurgery Awareness Month.
E. Nobel Prize winners Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield (invention of computer-assisted tomography), Roger Wolcott Sperry (functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain) and Osamu Shimomura (discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein) were all born in the month of August.
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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.