Putting brain power to work

Nick O'Leary is a Grade 12 student at Prince Andrew High School and the winner of a local brain-facts competition. (Liz Joyce Photo)

Nick O'Leary is one brainy teen.

The Grade 12 student at Dartmouth's Prince Andrew HIgh School won a spot at the national Brain Bee by winning a local brain-facts competition.

"It will be cool to see their research lab," Mr. O'Leary says of his trip May 27 and 28 to national Brain Bee host McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. "I really like looking at brains; it's a real privilege."

All the questions for the local and national Brain Bees come from the book Brain Facts: A Primer on the Brain and Nervous System that is available on the website of the Society for Neuroscience, based in Washington D.C.

To prepare for nationals, the Cole Harbour resident says he will review the brain book and bone up on brain anatomy.

This was the first time he entered the local Brain Bee, which is open to high-school students across the province. Fourteen students competed this year at Dalhousie University's third annual Brain Bee.

"We were doing some neuroscience in biology, and the teacher told us about the Brain Bee and gave us the opportunity to go," Mr. O'Leary says. "I thought it would be fun."

The format of the national competition is similar to the local contest, including written, oral and hands-on portions (a neuroanatomy test with 20 stations was held at the local bee). This year, local contestants also got to visit the Maritime Brain Tissue Bank.

Erin Mazerolle, co-ordinator of the Brain Bee at Dalhousie University, says it was great to expand the event this year to have more activities than in past years.

"The participants really enjoyed the hands-on neuroanatomy test in which they got to examine real brain specimens," she says.

At McMaster, there is an added component: a role-playing scenario, during which contestants must make a diagnosis based on the symptoms presented by a mock patient.

As for whether Mr. O'Leary is a future neuroscientist: time will tell. He's scheduled to start an arts degree at Dalhousie University in the fall.

He's no stranger to Dalhousie. He has a weekly show Album Appreciation Hour on CKDU Radio.

Prizes for the third annual CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) Canadian National Brain Bee include cash and a summer internship at a neuroscience laboratory.

If Mr. O'Leary wins the national competition, he will represent Canada this fall at the International Brain Bee in San Diego, California.

The local Brain Bee was held March 11. It was sponsored by Dalhousie University, the university's Neuroscience Institute, SuperNOVA at Dalhousie and the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation.

Alan Fine, director of the Neuroscience Institute, says it's important for the institute to fund such activities.

"Events such as the Brain Bee pique students' interest in neuroscience," says Dr. Fine. "No matter what they end up studying, they will have gained invaluable knowledge of how their brain works."