Best Brain in Canada title goes to Guelph high school student

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/brainbeewinners.jpg” caption=”Isdin Oke (centre) won the CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee on Saturday, May 10. Adrienna De Visser placed second and Jeremy Zung placed third. Photo courtesy of Judy Shedden.”]Isdin Oke, a high school student from Guelph, has won the right to be called the Best Brain in Canada. Hosted by the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University, the first CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee was held on Saturday, May 10.

Nine high school students from across Canada competed for the national title and a chance to represent Canada at the international level.

The competition was intense. The first part involved patient diagnosis, where students interviewed professionally trained actor-patients at the Clinical Learning Centre and diagnosed their brain disorders. The neuroanatomy bell-ringer was next, where the students identified parts of real human brain specimens at the Educational Program in Neuroanatomy.

The afternoon consisted of multiple choice questions, and finally, based on the tally of scores accumulated throughout the day, the top five students went head to head in the oral elimination rounds until there was only one student left standing.

Placing first as the CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee Champion was Isdin Oke, a high school student from Cenntenial CVI in Guelph. The second place winner was Calvin Christian High School student Adrienna De Visser from Coaldale, Alberta. Third place went to Jeremy Zung, a student at University of Toronto High School in Toronto.

Oke will represent Canada at the International Brain Bee in Montreal on May 26.

Photos and video of the competition will be posted on the CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee website.