Brain Bee Study Resources
Format of the Competition
Starting this year and moving forward, the CIHR Brain Bee will be a standardized event, with all of the regions having their local competitions taking place on the same days. Because of this, the questions that students will see on the Ottawa Brain Bee competition will be similar to those seen at the National competition. The 2022 virtual Brain Bee will be hosted via Zoom, with further information about the exact formatting still to come. Students will need to have access to some form of webcam and microphone, as parts of this competition require these tools. The competition will consist of multiple choice questions from the content covered in the video lessons, and a “short answer/oral question” round where students will be required to write out answers from questions asked by a committee member and hold their answers up to their webcam.
Our planning committee is currently working on ways for students to have a fun and engaging experience with other high school students competing in the competition. More details about this are still to be announced.
Study Preparation
Information regarding the details of the online course can be found on the About the Brain Bee page. The two main textbooks which the video lessons were created from are:
- The primary study resources on which our Brain Bee (and the National Brain Bee) is based are the following:
- “Neuroscience, Science of the Brain” – PDF book
- Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 3rd Edition): (aka “the BEAR book”):
- Chapter 2 (5 Mb)
- Chapter 7 (6.4 Mb)
- Chapter 7 Appendix (5.2 Mb)
- Chapter 15 (4.7 Mb)
- Chapter 22 (6 Mb)
Additional resources for studying neuroanatomy are listed below that students can use to aid their studying:
Functionality and location:
- Anatomy explorer
- Interactive 3D Brain Model – False colour but a good place to start to get to know the brain
- Digital Anatomist Project (Click on the button labelled “Click for Atlas” to see actual tissue sections)
- *Video lesson (animated) on parts of the Limbic System
Actual images: (the National competition uses REAL brain slices – you need to know the FUNCTIONALITY and Anatomical names of each area)
- Coronal Sections
- Horizontal Sections
- Neuroanatomy Tutorial – High quality images of Saggital, Coronal and Transverse sections
- Links to Saggital, Axial(horizontal) and Coronal section views
- Video analysis and explanation of actual tissue – Brain Stem and Cerebellum
- Video dissection of human brain from UBC – with descriptions of each antatomical component
- Video of Full Brain dissection (long)
- Video of Dissection and excellent description of the Meninges
- Video dissection of Cerebellum and Brain stem
- Video dissection and discussion of the Limbic System including Hypothalamus, Thalamus, Mammilary bodies, and hippocampus
- A great summary page for Neuroanatomy – contains both function and location
- Image showing where Hypothalamus is relative to Mammilary bodies
- Great Neuroanatomy Flashcard set at Quizlet