February 2004

American Association for the Advancement of Science

AAAS hosts 'Battle of the Brains' to choose area student for international competition

Outstanding high-school students from the Washington metro area will be quizzed on what they know about neuroscience during a Brain Bee on Tuesday, 24 February 2004, at AAAS in Washington, D.C. In a two-step process, local competitions are held between young men and women from North America to determine who is the "best brain" on topics such as intelligence, memory and stress. The winners will be invited to the championship at the University of Maryland at Baltimore in March during Brain Awareness Week, which is organized by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. The International Brain Bee strives to motivate youths to learn about the brain and inspire them to pursue careers in biomedical brain research.

Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the journal Science, will be the judge. The participating schools include Benjamin Banneker Academic High School and the School Without Walls High School in the District of Columbia. In Maryland, Landon School, Bethesda; Magruder High School, Rockville; Rockville High School, Silver Spring; and Winston Churchill High School, Potomac. In Virginia, Langley High School, McLean; Loudon County High School, Leesburg; and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria.

For more information about the International Brain Bee, visit the Web site of the Society for Neuroscience: http://web.sfn.org/baw/bee.cfm.

WHAT: Local Brain Bee tied to an international competition where students answer questions about the brain and its functions using a spelling bee format. All questions for the local brain bees must come from Brain Facts, a book published by the Society for Neuroscience.

WHEN: Tuesday, 24 February 2004, at 4:30 p.m.

WHERE: AAAS, 2nd floor auditorium
1200 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005

Please use the entrance at the intersection of 12th and H streets. Proceed to the second floor.

HOSTS: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, The National Academies, and Society for Neuroscience

CONTACT: Reporters should RSVP to Christina Smith at 202-326-7088, [email protected].



The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives is a nonprofit organization of more than 200 leading neuroscientists that is committed to advancing public awareness about the progress and benefits




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