Today's guest blog comes from Karen Mattox, who is the Manager of Communications and Community Relations on the Glendale Campus. For the past decade, Karen has helped organize the Arizona Regional Brain Bee at MWU, working with our faculty coordinator Dr. Buck Jones. This event has steadily grown over the years, with many high schools from around the state competing in the contest. Here are Karen's insights on this year's event.

Do you know how many scientists measure brain waves? How many neurons are in the brain? The leading preventable cause of mental retardation? Why we need sleep? If there are any differences between female and male brains?

Although I should know ALL these answers after many years of attending the Arizona Regional Brain Bee at MWU's Glendale Campus, I can at least tell you the answers to the first three: 1) electroencephalograph, 100 billion, and fetal alcohol syndrome. As for the last two, I will leave that up to you to research further.

The 2008 contest took place last week and was just as exciting as the first year we held it. Now in its 10th years, the Brain Bee offers Arizona high school students the chance to compete for scholarships and other prizes by answering questions about the brain and central nervous system.


Caption: The Brain Bee winning team from Patagonia

Participation is free and benefits are many, including a first-prize scholarship to MWU; first-prize round-trip airfare to the National Brain Bee; team hats and plaque for best overall school; certificates and t-shirts for all; and the joy of learning about the many fascinating brain topics of intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, aging, sleep, brain disorders, stroke, and more!

This year, 26 kids from Arizona schools, including some as far away as Kingman and Patagonia, battled for the honor of "top brain" as well as "top team." Since the kids were so well-prepared (by reading the book Brain Facts, published by the Society for Neuroscience), the event lasted three-and-a-half hours, as 10 finalists trade successful answers round after round.

The winning question was:
Q: Name the hormone released from the pituitary gland that stimulates the production of male sperm?
A: Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH)

This year's winner was Billy McCormick, a junior from Thunderbird High School in Glendale, which has claimed Bee winners since 2005. As Mr. McCormick handled the pressure like a pro, an "orange-out" of Thunderbird students and fans in orange science club t-shirts celebrated him on, displaying the friendly competitive support typical of Bee regulars over the years.


Caption: Winner Billy McCormick with Dr. Jones.

In two especially heartfelt displays, the T-Bird team brought a veteran Apollo High School student, Cory Malinowski, into their "huddle" since he had no team of his own, then later presented him with one of their team award hats, shaped like a brain, to encourage him in the finals. And, at the end of the night, when the Patagonia team earned the team award for the best score overall, knocking Thunderbird from their long-held perch, the T-Bird team came down front and congratulated their peers with a row of handshakes, major-league sports style.


Caption: Thunderbird (in orange) congratulates team winner Patagonia (in yellow).

For educational fun and "gracious professionalism," as our Dean of Students Dr. Ross Kosinski likes to say, you can't beat the Brain Bee. To see complete results, a list of competitors, and fun photos, go to www.myspace.com/azbrainbee and be sure to join us next year!

Note: The AZ Regional Brain Bee is directed by Carleton Buck Jones, Ph.D., MWU Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences, and is judged by MWU faculty. It is held the second Wednesday in February each year to determine the AZ representative to the International Brain Bee. For more information on the IBB and National Brain Awareness Week, visit the Society for Neuroscience web site at www.sfn.org.