Seeking Canada’s next top brain researcher

High school students from across Canada will converge on McMaster University this
weekend to compete for the right to be called the best brain in Canada.

The students, all winners of their regional competitions, will be tested on their
knowledge of neuroscience and their skills at patient diagnosis and neuroanatomy.
Topics cover memory, sleep, intelligence, emotion, perception, stress, aging, brain-
imaging, neurology, neurotransmitters, genetics, and brain disease.

The competition begins May 28. Participants are winners of their regional Brain Bee
competitions in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Kingston, London, Waterloo, Guelph,
Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax.

Judith Shedden, associate professor in McMaster's Department of Psychology,
Neuroscience & Behaviour, started the McMaster Brain Bee nine years ago. Now chair of
the CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee Committee, she says the purpose of the
competition is to encourage a career in one of the great frontiers of scientific research.

“An important goal of the Brain Bee is to reach out to our extended communities to
share what we are doing in our laboratories, and to encourage these bright young
minds to consider a career in brain research,” she says.

The CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee is supported nationally by the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research (CIHR).

“This championship represents a great opportunity to bring together the brightest
students in Canada to measure their knowledge of the brain, the most complex
structure in the known universe,” says Dr. Anthony Phillips, Scientific Director of the
CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction. “We consider these
talented students as the next generation of researchers in one of the most exciting
areas of science.”

Winners receive trophies and scholarship awards of $1,500, $1,000, and $500. The
first-place winner will represent Canada at the International Brain Bee from July 14-18,
in Florence, Italy.