Press Releases

March 7, 2001
Who Wants to Be a Neuroscientist?

A "Brain Bee" Quiz Show

Contact:
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Twenty-two high school students from Long Island competed in the second annual Long Island Brain Bee held at Southampton College on Saturday, March 3. Twice as many contestants took part this year compared to last year. Contestants represented the following high schools: Sachem, Comsewogue, Lindenhurst, Newfield, St. John the Baptist, Harborfields, Lynbrook, Wyandanch and Eastport.

This year's winner, Vikas Gupta, age 16, won second place last year. The Comsewogue High School student will be awarded a $12,000 Brain Bee Scholarship to Southampton College. Nine of the students had prepared by attending a free month-long Brain Bee preparation course that was taught on Saturdays in February by Southampton College Professors John Neill and Paul Forestell. The course will be available again next year.

Southampton College Dean Margaret Madden welcomed this year's Brain Bee students and commended them by saying that they were a very select group since they were willing to get up early on Saturday mornings to come to the college and study neuroscience. Professor Neill described how he and his students conducted research at both Southampton College and at Harvard Medical School, where he is an Instructor in Neurology. Their research was on the effects of choline, a vital nutrient, on the developing brain.

The Brain Bee contest requires students to answer difficult questions about the brain. "These students are fantastic; they worked very hard, and they answered all the prepared computer questions, and so we had to conduct half the Brain Bee using questions from the book. These students were able to answer questions that some Ph.D.s can't answer," said Dr. Neill.

Gupta, the winner, will now go to the National Brain Bee in Baltimore on March 13th-14th. The winner there will receive a $3,000 scholarship, second place will receive $2,000, and third place wins $1,000. After the National Brain Bee, finalists will go to the National Institutes of Health for seminars on neuroscience and a recognition ceremony. "Last year, the finalists heard seminars about neuroscience given by the directors of the National Instititues. They then were presented to about 500 neuroscientists, who gave them a standing ovation. It was so thrilling, and I was very proud of these fine students," said Dr. Neill.

Second place went to Saroj Kunnakkat, age 14, from Lynbrook High School, Lynbrook, NY. Third place went to Ashish Bhatt, age 16, who won first place last year. Contestants who placed in the top three at the Long Island Brain Bee won scholarships to a weeklong Introduction to Psychobiology Workshop, to be held this July at Southampton College. For more information on Brain Awareness Week and courses on Brain and Behavior Analysis, call Professor John Neill at (631) 287-8202.

The National Brain Bee is part of National Brain Awareness Week sponsored by the Society for Neuroscience and the Dana Foundation. To obtain more information about Brain Awareness Week at the Society of Neuroscience web page: http://www.sfn.org/BAW/ and also at the Dana Foundation web page: http://www.dana.org/brainweek/