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For High School Student Competitors

Do you ever wonder

...what makes you who you are?
...how you can improve your memory?
...why we need sleep?
...what determines intelligence?
...how your brain is different from a computer?
...how your brain creates emotions?
...how eyes see and ears hear?
...why pain exists?
...how male and female brains differ?
...how scientists can see and hear changes in the brain?

Then consider participating in the International Brain Bee. Students that join our competition compete with teenagers from all over the world, win prize money, see Washington, DC and visit some of the best brain research facilities in the world.

If you have read this far, you must think you've got what it takes to be the next International Brain Bee Champion! Each year, hundreds of high school students compete worldwide to find out who has the "best brain." The first step in the IBB competition is to contact your Local Brain Bee Coordinator and enter your local competition. (A list of local coordinators can be found here.)  Local Bees can be held at any time throughout the year, but are most often held during the fall and winter of each year. The winners of all Local Brain Bees will be invited to the National Brain Bees, and the winner of each National Bee will be invited to the International Brain Bee Competition.

The Brain Bee is a program designed especially to stimulate high school students to learn about neuroscience; as such, we require our competitors to be currently enrolled in a high school program - grades 9 through 12. No student is allowed to participate in more than one Local Brain Bee each school year, and students are only allowed to compete in the International Brain Bee Championship once. (Former International Competitors are, however, allowed to participate in Local and National Bees each year.)

Students can prepare for any Local Brain Bee by studying the 2005 edition of Brain Facts, published by The Society for Neuroscience. This publication is available as a free download at SFN's homepage. (For a hardcopy of the document, please contact the SFN.)  Questions for the National Brain Bee competitions will be taken both from Brain Facts and the 2003 edition of Neuroscience: The Science of the Brain. This book is published by the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, and can be found at the Dana Alliance website. Each Local and National Brain Bee is unique, and you should contact your specific coordinator for more information on procedures and rules in your area. A list of the Local and National Coordinators can be found here, and links to some of the IBB websites can be found here. 

For more information on how to study for the national and international levels of competition,
please visit our frequently asked questions page.

The International Brain Bee Championship

The IBB Championship involves six parts. The maximum score that a student can earn after the six parts is 100 points. The six sections of the IBB Championship are now being revised and reviewed by the IBB coordinators; the sections will be described here as soon as they have been finalized.

Sample questions

Below you will find the only local brain bee questions that have been officially released as samples. These questions are intended to help you understand the degree of difficulty of our questions, not to focus your studies on one area of neuroscience or another.

1. Approximately how many neurons does the brain contain?  (100 billion)
2. Name the device that measures brain waves.  (Electroencephalograph)
3. Stargazer mice are experimental models for which type of epilepsy?  (Petit mal epilepsy)
4. Prozac relieves symptoms of depression by affecting which neurotransmitter?  (Serotonin)
5. The Greek word for the branches of a tree give us the name of what part of a neuron?  (Dendrites)
6. Name the surgical procedure that destroys part of the basal ganglia and helps Parkinson's patients.  (Pallidotomy)
7. The biologic clock is located in what part of the brain?  (Hypothalamus)
8. Name a brain disorder named after a famous baseball player.  (Lou Gehrig's disease)
9. What is the mot common type of inherited mental retardation?  (Fragile X Syndrome)
10. Name the peptide that accumulates in the senile plaques of brains of Alzheimer's patients?  (Beta Amyloid)
11. What chromosome is altered to cause Huntington's disease?  (Four)
12. What is the leading preventable cause of mental retardation?  (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome)
13. The abbreviation PET stands for what brain imagine technique?  (Positron emission topography)
14. What kind of molecules are netrins and semaphorins?  (Guidance molecules)
15. Name a cognitive disorder associated with chronic alcoholism.  (Korsakoff's Syndrome)
    
    
    
    

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