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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 September including:
A. September Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news2909.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 October is the "The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography" at:
https://www.sfn.org/about/history-of-neuroscience/autobiographical-chapters
"The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography" is a collection of self-written accounts by more than 150 well-known neuroscientists. Each autobiography starts with a one page resume with information about when and where the neuroscientist was born, their education background and appointments, honors and awards they have won, and a short description of the contributions that the person made to neuroscience.
The autobiographies are very detailed as the neuroscientists describe their childhood and what led them to their careers. Some of the neuroscientists had an interest in science from an early age while for others, science was not something that entered their lives until later. Many of the stories in collection are highly personal as the neuroscientists write about how they overcame significant obstacles and barriers in their private lives and academic careers before they became established.
With more than 150 autobiographies to choose from, you might wonder where to get started. The autobiographies are organized into 13 volumes: Volume 1 was published in 1996 and Volume 13 was published in 2024. Volume 1 has autobiographies from early pioneers in neuroscience such as Nobel Prize winners Julius Axelrod, Alan L. Hodgkin, David H. Hubel and Bernard Katz. It doesn't really matter which neuroscientist you read about. Perhaps start by reading one chapter from an early volume and then read a chapter from a later volume; or maybe read about a neuroscientist who you have heard about or one who is new to you. I must admit that I have not read all of the autobiographies yet.
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I often say that neuroscience is everywhere. Whether you read a newspaper or magazine, listen to the radio, or watch TV or a movie, you are likely to encounter something to do with the brain. Even when you travel to new places you are very likely to bump into neuroscience.
Last month I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, and London, England. While in Edinburgh, I visited the Royal Botanic Garden. The garden features a wonderful medicinal herb garden and describes how plants have been used to treat disease, including neurological disorders, for many years. I highly recommend a visit to this garden if you visit Scotland. Edinburgh also has many museums and I took time to explore the National Museum of Scotland. In my opinion, this museum is best described as an "old school" natural history museum with stuffed animals and artifacts about Scotland's history. A highlight for me at this museum was the display of a device used by pioneering neuroscientist Charles Scott Sherrington (born 1857; died 1952; 1932 Nobel Prize winner) who set the foundation for modern neurophysiology and made important discoveries about the function of neurons.
One day while walking around Edinburgh, I stumbled across the entrance to the Royal College of Physicians where a poster mentioned they were hosting an exhibit called "Hooked" about the 500-year history of addiction. Most museums in Edinburgh are free and "Hooked" was no exception, so I entered the building. The exhibit was quite small, but included items such as opium pipes, old texts and advertisements about various drugs. That evening while relaxing from a busy day exploring Edinburgh, I turned on the TV and found a game show called "The Chase." During the program, one contestant was asked, "In the human body, what type of cell is a neuron?" The answer choices were A) Blood cell; B) Nerve cell or C) Muscle cell. I am glad to say that both the contestant and the "chaser" answered correctly.
In London, I visited the Chelsea Physic Garden (founded in 1673) for a special tour. This garden is the oldest in London and has more than 4,500 medicinal, edible and useful plants. I also explored London's Natural History Museum, Science Museum and British Museum. If you get a chance to visit the Science Museum, make sure to go to the top floor that houses a special exhibit about the brain and mind. On my last day, I went to the American School in London and spoke with 100 4th grade students who are learning about the brain. They were well-prepared for my talk and had been building model neurons, dissecting sheep brains and performing experiments. After my talk, two teachers gave me a tour of the school which features two gyms, a swimming pool, and well-equipped robotics and science labs.
Websites of places visited:
Royal Botanic Garden (Edinburgh): https://www.rbge.org.uk/
National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh): https://www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-scotland
Chelsea Physic Garden (London): https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/
Science Museum (London): https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
British Museum (London): https://www.britishmuseum.org/
Natural History Museum (London): https://www.nhm.ac.uk/
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Brain Awareness Week (BAW) 2026 will arrive sooner than you think. Next year, BAW will be March 16-22, 2026, so it is time to start your planning now. You can find ideas for your BAW program on the DANA Foundation web site (https://dana.org/brain-awareness-week/). This year the Dana Foundation and the International Brain Research Organization have teamed up to provide grants up to $1,250 that might fund your BAW program. Apply for funding here:
https://ibro.org/grant/brain-awareness-week-grants/
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Several newsletter readers have asked if there was a place for them to buy Neuroscience for Kids materials. My response has always been "No" because everything is free! There are many games, lesson plans, worksheets and activities that can be downloaded from Neuroscience for Kids at no cost. On the other hand, if you are interested in neuroscience-themed gifts such as T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, sandals, greeting cards and tote bags, you can purchase these at the Neuro4kids store on CafePress at:
https://www.cafepress.com/shop/neuro4kids
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A. "New Hope in Alzheimer's Research: A Special Report" and "Can Diet and Exercise Really Prevent Alzheimer's?" (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, October, 2025).
B. "How a Deaf Quarterback Changed Sports Forever By Inventing the Huddle" (SMITHSONIAN magazine, September/October, 2025).
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A. Karl Friedrich Burdach coined the term "amygdala" in 1819 (Source: Davis, M. and Shi, C., The amygdala, Current Biology, 10 [Issue 4PR131], February 15, 2000).
B. Ardem Patapoutian, who won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries about receptors for temperature and touch, was born on October 2, 1967.
C. Changes in the sense of smell are often early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (Source: Meyer, C. et al., Early locus coeruleus noradrenergic axon loss drives olfactory dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease, Nat. Commun., 16, 7338, 2025).
D. Cats can develop dementia-like symptoms in old age similar to Alzheimer's disease in humans (Source: McGeachan. R.I. et al., Amyloid-beta pathology increases synaptic engulfment by glia in feline cognitive dysfunction syndrome: A naturally occurring model of Alzheimer's disease, Eur. J. Neurosci., 62(3):e70180, 2025).
E. October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month.
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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.