Brainstorm
Produced by the 21st Century Biology Class at Sidwell Friends School

December 2000
VOLUME I, ISSUE 2

Table of Contents

 
Society for Neuroscience Conference 2000
BY MAIA MAHONEY
From November second through sixth, our class attended the 30th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) in New Orleans, Louisiana. The SFN conference is the largest meeting of neuroscientists in the world and it provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and updates on current neuroscience research. By the second day, a record of 24,000 neuroscientists, professors, and graduate students had registered for the meeting.

Our class was invited to the meeting to present a poster about our study of the vibrational communication and behavior of insects, particularly leafhoppers and treehoppers (Insecta, Hemiptera). We presented our poster in the Teaching of Neuroscience section, so the poster was also designed to encourage teachers and professors to take our experiment to their classes and labs, as an effective method to teach neuroscience to students of all ages.

We also attended a special forum about Brain Awareness Week (BAW) where representatives from the Dana Alliance and the Society for Neuroscience talked about ideas for the future of BAW. We presented a poster which described our involvement in BAW and how both students from our class and students and teachers in the schools we work with benefit. Our poster also featured an interesting and interactive activity that we do with elementary students during BAW that allows young students neuroscience. While presenting the poster, we were able exchange ideas with teachers and neuroscientists who participate in BAW.

Students participated in several Hands-On Neuroscience Activities workshops. In these workshops, neuroscientists and teachers shared classroom activities and curriculum ideas for teaching neuroscience to elementary and middle school students.

These workshops and the entire conference gave us many ideas for our future work with Brain Awareness Week and Brainstorm. The lectures we were able to attend, posters we saw and discussed with their authors, and vendors we visited gave us all an opportunity to fully understand the diversity within field of neuroscience and the many research opportunities that the field presents. Our entire class left the conference excited about neuroscience and ways that we can educate others about all we learned.

Neuroscience in the News
BY ANNA DUNCAN
The main focus of the Society for Neuroscience conference in New Orleans was the huge advancements that have been made in the field of neuroscience and our understanding of the brain in recent years. Some of the most significant of these advancements have been in scientists’ understanding of the effects of injury to the central nervous system and in available treatments for victims of spinal chord injury.

Most acute injury to the central nervous system is induced by a stroke or trauma to the spinal chord. Strokes are generally caused when an artery supplying blood to the brain becomes occluded by a blood clot, producing a reduction of blood flow to the brain, called an ischemia. Neuroscientists have discovered that tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), if administered within three hours of the onset of symptoms, can help lyse the blood clot and reestablish blood flow. For spinal chord injury, scientists have developed a drug called methylprednisolone which, if given within eight hours of injury, produces an improvement and acceleration in the brain’s natural recovery process.

These discoveries are significant for neuroscientists and other medical professionals because they prove that stroke and spinal chord injury can be treated. However, there is still much research to be done. Scientists are currently working on identifying basic injury mechanisms that are triggered by ischemia or trauma to the brain or spinal chord in order to develop treatments that interfere with these injury mechanisms. They are also looking at the possible use of transplanted stem cells, immature cells capable of developing into neurons and other types of nervous system cells, to speed up the recovery process.

The conference, as well as focusing on the achievements of neuroscientists working on spinal chord injury, also emphasized the need to continue this research because there is still so much work that needs to be done. Christopher Reeves, actor and advocate for research into spinal chord injury, was the recipient of the Special Achievement Award and was a featured speaker. He made a personal plea to the neuroscientist community to continue their search for treatments of brain and spinal chord injury. Surely with our increased knowledge of the brain and spinal chord, a cure for spinal chord injury should be just around the corner.

A Seafood Feast!
Materials: § organisms: shrimp, squid, fish. § dissection tools § recipes for cooking the organisms § cooking utensils § Cocktail Sauce recipe: 1 cup catsup, 1/8 cup horseradish, juice of 1 lemon, and a dash of hot pepper sauce Procedure: I. Examine and compare external anatomies (considering their environments, sensory modalities, and exoskeleton). II. Examine and compare internal anatomies (nervous & digestive systems, endoskeleton) while cleaning and preparing the organisms before they are cooked: A. Cleaning the Fish 1. Spread out several layers of newspaper and cover with brown paper. 2. Cut off the fins with scissors. 3. Wash fish in cold water to make scaling process easier. 4. Grasp fish firmly near the base of the tail. Beginning here, use a scaler to strip the scales off, working up towards the head. After scaling discard the first layer of brown paper. 5. Then cut the entire length of the belly from the vent to the head and discard the entrails. They are contained in a pouch-like integument which can be removed by cutting around the pelvic and ventral fins on the lower side . 6. At this point, take time to really examine closely the internal organs and important systems. 7. To remove the head, cut above the collarbone and break the backbone by snapping it off on the edge of the work surface (the head and pectoral fins should come off in the process). If you plan to fillet the fish, you do not need to remove the head . B. Filleting Fish 1. Cut the fish along the back ridge from the tail to just behind the head. 2. Slice down at a slight angle behind the collarbone beyond the gill until you feel the backbone against the knife. 3. Turn the knife flat w/ the cutting edge toward the tail and the point toward the cut edge of the backbone. Keep the blade flat and in the same plane w/ the backbone. Cut w/ a sliding motion along the backbone until you have separated it. 4. Fillet all the way to the tail. 5. Wash off fillet in cold water. . C. Cleaning Squid 6. Remove the beak-like mouth, anal portion, and eyes. Be careful not to pierce the ink sack which lies close by. This may be done with scissors or a large knife, based on size and toughness of skin. 7. Reach in and discard the yellowish pouch and attached membranes (the ink sack). 8. Have students try to find the brain and central nervous system and then examine other important organs and systems. 9. Wash well in running water to remove gelatinous portions. D. Tenderizing Squid: Either beat the squid with a tenderizing mallet or add tenderizer to a marinade. III. Cook the cleaned and prepared animals. A. Cooking Fish and Squid: Sauté fish and squid in butter, garlic, and spices in a frying pan until cooked throughout. B. Cooking Shrimp 1. Put shrimp in boiling water (w/ shells on) until they turn pink, but don’t over cook. 2. Make cocktail sauce. Discussion: A. Discuss students’ views on using animals for scientific research, especially dissection. What are the benefits of doing this lab in which nothing is wasted? B. What are the benefits of using squid, shrimp, and fish to explore the evolution of neuroanatomy? C. After doing this lab, can you explain why squid are used by neuroscientists to study nerve cells?

Fun Brain Facts
BY ANNA DUNCAN
  • It has three major parts: the brainstem, the cerebellum (sair-uh-BEL-um), and the cerebrum (suh-REE-brum).
  • The brainstem connects the brain to the spinal chord and controls heartbeat, digestion, breathing, swallowing, coughing, and sneezing.
  • The cerebellum is located at the back of the brain just above the brainstem. It helps the muscles work together for coordination and balance.
  • The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. It enables us to think, learn, remember, feel sensations and emotions, and move muscles voluntarily.

Dreams and the Brain
BY LAUREN BROWNLEE
Sleep is a big part of all of our lives. In fact, sleep takes up about one-third of our lifetime. Contrary to what many people imagine, sleep is not a time for the brain to stop working. Sleep is a very active period in which muscles tense; blood pressure, pulse, and temperature rise; and senses are alert. It is during sleep that we express our deepest thoughts and emotions.

Dreaming happens during the 25 percent of sleep called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, during which the brain is hyperalert in many ways. The brain waves (wave patterns that scientists use to show activity in the brain) of REM sleep more closely resemble those of waking then the more relaxed non-REM sleep. Pulse and breathing quicken, and brain temperature and bloodflow increase. The activity of the brain during REM sleep begins in a structure called the pons which is located in the brainstem (the back part of the brain that connects it to the spinal chord). The pons sends messages that shut off the neurons in the spinal cord. It is the combination of high activity in the brain and paralysis of the body that produces dreams.

On average, the first REM period lasts about ten minutes and comes after about 90 minutes of non-REM sleep. Non-REM and REM sleep alternate throughout the night. Each REM period is a little longer than the last, until by the end of the night they last about 20 to 30 minutes. Depending on how long you sleep, you could have about 4-6 REM periods, continuing to come after each 90-minute period of non-REM.

Everyone dreams just about every night. When you remember a dream, it is probably because you dreamt it right before you woke up. If you don’t remember any dreams, it doesn’t mean you didn’t have any, you probably just dreamt them too early in your sleep to remember them. Lack of dreaming can be harmful, and can lead to hallucinations while you’re awake. But don’t worry, your body knows its stuff! If you dream less one night, your body will compensate by having you dream more the next night until you reach your normal quota.

Make sure you get enough sleep so you can have as many dreams as your body needs. Sweet Dreams!

About 21st Century Biology
The 21st Century Biology class at Sidwell Friends School is a unique class that provides high school juniors and seniors with the opportunity to perform original research and shape their own experiments. Instead of using a textbook, students rely on a variety of sources including scientific journals and the research findings of other scientists. In addition, students are invited to attend scientific conferences, which allow them to meet and learn from scientists in fields of interest, and to present their own research.

Every year, students focus on a few independent research projects, building on the work done by classes from previous years. One of our current projects is participating in Brain Awareness Week, a program created by the Dana Alliance and the Society for Neuroscience designed to increase the study of the brain at the elementary school level. Students in our class participate in outreach programs at elementary schools in our area. This newsletter is an extension of the work we do during Brain Awareness Week and allows us to continue to communicate with the schools about neuroscience education throughout the year.