Sixth Annual McMaster Brain Bee
February 17, 2009
Daniel
Dyda
Carmen
Kristin
2 Hill Park students enjoying the afternoon
Concentrating on the multiple choice portion of the test
A packed house – 3 of the 4 Hill Park students
All 4 participating Hill Park students
Sample Questions
1. Which of the following would be involved in processing the
pain felt after a pin prick?
a) The c fibres
b) The opioid fibres
c) Small myelinated fibres
d) The prostaglandin fibres
2. Molecules such as cadherin, netrin, neuropilin and ephrin are
used for:
a) Cell division
b) Electrical transmission
c) Axon guidance
d) Dendrite guidance
Sample Questions
3. The second messenger system refers to:
a) a cascade of biochemical signals within cells
b) the process of neurotransmitter recycling
c) the conduction of action potentials to pre-synaptic terminals
d) the repetition of neuronal communication
4. The surgical destruction of which pair of basal ganglia nuclei
can greatly reduce symptoms of Parkinson's disease?
a) subthalamic & putamen
b) pallidum & subthamalic
c) substantia nigra & putamen
d) caudate & pallidum
Julia's brain aces big test
Gary Yokoyama, the Hamilton Spectator
Oakville teen wins McMaster Brain Bee
February 18, 2009
EMMA REILLY
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
(Feb 18, 2009)
Here's a brainteaser: What happens when local high school
students test themselves on the inner workings of their minds?
The sixth annual Brain Bee competition, of course.
Eighty-four brainy high school students from southern Ontario
competed in the annual event yesterday at McMaster University's
department of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour.
The competition tests the students in areas such as memory, sleep, emotion, perception, stress, genetics and brain
diseases.
Its goal is to challenge students interested in psychology, neuroscience or behaviour and give them a sense of what
they can expect in university.
"It's a pretty big deal," said Dr. Joe Kim, assistant professor in the department and the co-organizer of the event.
"It involves a lot of studying covering all the basics of neuroscience."
The first round of the contest was a multiple-choice test answered individually by each student.
"It was a little harder than I expected," said Kristine Dobrik, a Grade 10 student from Hillfield Strathallan College.
"You really had to know your stuff."
Then, the five students who scored the highest on the exam participated in a spelling bee-style oral exam, where
each student was called onstage to answer brain-busting questions. If a student received three wrong answers,
they were eliminated.
Julia Shin, a Grade 11 student from Iroquois Ridge High School in Oakville, was the brainiest of the bunch this year.
"I can't even believe I won," said the shocked 17-year-old.
Shin took home an iPod Touch and a spot in the Canadian national Brain Bee competition, which will be held at
McMaster on May 29-30. She also has a chance to advance to the International Brain Bee held in August.
Shin, who wants to study neurology in university, said she'd been studying for the event every moment for the past
week.
The competition expects students to have a first-year university level of knowledge, Kim said.
"These kids really know their stuff," he said. "We really have to make the questions hard."