The United States National Brain Bee
March 19-20, 2010

In order to compete in the US National Championship, a student must win one of the Local Brain Bees. Students may only compete in one Local Bee per year. The United States National Brain Bee was held March 20th-21st, 2009 in Baltimore Maryland. Congratulations to our 2009 US National Brain Bee winner Julia Chartove from Richard Montgomery High School in Washington DC. Click here for a play-by-play of the 2009 competition!

US National Brain Bee Schedule & Resources

Questions at the US National Brain Bee will be taken from the British Neuroscience Association's publication Neuroscience: the Science of the Brain which is available at the Association's website. The Championship involves two parts. The top students from Part I go on to Part II. The maximum total for Part I is 100 points.

• Human Neuroanatomy Practical (25%). This involves competitors rotating through stations consisting of whole and half human brains. Parts of the brains are labeled with pins numbered from 1 to 25. Students must recall the names and/or functions of the indicated parts and write them on their answer sheets. Students can prepare by studying any basic neuroanatomy or neurophysiology textbook or atlas.    
  
  
• Questions with Written Answers Part 1 (25%). Competitors will be given the same 25 questions orally one at a time. They will have 15 seconds to write the answers on a pad given to them. At the end of the 15 seconds, they will each read their answers out load. Students can prepare by studying Neuroscience: the Science of the Brain (2003). This publication is available on-line at www.bna.org.uk/publications. It is also available at www.ibro.org; click on brain campaign and then choose the English version.

• Patient Diagnosis (20%) Students will spend 5 minutes alone with each of 10 patient actors. By observing them, asking them 3 questions, and ordering 2 laboratory or clinical tests they are to diagnose the patient’s neurological disorder, choosing from one of the following 12 disorders: bipolar disorder, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, schizophrenia, stroke, Tourette Syndrome, neurological AIDS, chronic pain, and autism. Patients are only allowed to answer “yes”, “no” or “I don’t know” to the 3 questions. Students will select from a list of tests and will immediately be given the results to help their diagnosis. Students can prepare by studying the basic signs, symptoms and diagnostic procedures for these disorders.
  
  
• Neurohistology (5%) This involves competitors rotating through stations consisting of histological sections of the brain and nervous system. Students must be able to recall the names of indicated cells and parts of the nervous system. Students can prepare by studying any basic neurohistology text book. All histological sections will be of structions mentioned in Brain Facts
  
  
• Questions with Written Answers Part 2 (25%) Ten rounds of different questions are asked of each student. They require a one word or phrase answer. Students can prepare by studying Neuroscience: the Science of the Brain (2003)

For a tentative schedule of the 2010 US Brain Bee activities, please click here. The official schedule of events will be distributed to the competitors and their chaperones.

Prizes

The US National Champion will receive $1,500, a paid summer internship with an esteemed neuroscientist, and a trip for two to the International Brain Bee Championship in San Diego, California August 12th-15th 2010. In addition, the school of the USA winner will recieve a microscope from Carl Zeiss, Inc. The second place finisher will receive $1,000, and the third place finisher will receive $500.

Travel Information

The Bee will be held in the University of Maryland Medical School, located at 685 W. Baltimore Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Driving directions to the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus can be found at the school's website, along with additional parking information.

Rooms will be held at a discounted rate at the Holiday Inn - Inner Harbor which is located 6 blocks east of the competition. The address is 301 W. Lombard Street in Baltimore, Maryland, and the rooms can be reserved by calling (410) 685-3500. The discounted rate is $129 per night and only apply to rooms reserved by March 8th, 2010.

If you are flying into the Baltimore/Washington International Airport, the Holiday Inn is easily accessible. Take I-295 north for 8 miles to the Pratt Street exit. Turn right on Pratt Street, proceed for two blocks, then turn left onto Howard Street. Proceed for one block, then turn left on Lombard Street. The hotel driveway will be immediately on your left.

From 1-95 (points north or south), take exit 53 for 395N and follow signs for downtown. Cross over Pratt Street and make your next left onto Lombard Street. The hotel driveway will be immediately on your left.

Registration Information

This year, 44 Local Brain Bees will be held in the United States alone

Since the International Brain Bee program growing so rapidly, it is important that we stay organized and up to date. In the past, simple e-mail was an effective means of communication, but with more than seventy Local Brain Bees occurring worldwide this year, the IBB coordinators recognized the need to have a more formal system.

Each Local Brain Bee coordinator will be asked to fill out the annual Local Brain Bee Report Form at the conclusion of his or her competition. Although the form is not very lengthy, it will help us plan for the subsequent National and International Bees each year. Coordinators should also fill out the US National Brain Bee Registration Form if the Local Bee winner plans to attend our national competition. The information on this form and the $75 registration fee will help us more accurately plan the US National Competition and ensure that there are enough resources for all of our competitors.

Both of these forms can be sent to us via e-mail, or printed and mailed to:

Dr. Norbert Myslinski 
Department of Pain and Neural Sciences, 8th floor
650 W. Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD  21201  USA

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