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CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee

Grade 12 Guelph Student Wins Canada's "Best Brain" Competition

CIHR Associate Director Eric Marcotte stands amidst some of the brightest brains in Canada during the third annual CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee Championship at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Saturday, May 29, 2010.   The Canadian Press Images PHOTO/Simon Wilson

CIHR Associate Director Eric Marcotte stands amidst some of the brightest brains in Canada during the third annual CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee Championship at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Saturday, May 29, 2010.  
The Canadian Press Images PHOTO/Simon Wilson  

We have our top three winners!

  1. Linda Zhu, Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute, Guelph
  2. Kerry Sun, Old Scona Academic School, Edmonton
  3. Elena Mamycheva, York Memorial Collegiate Institute, Toronto

On May 29th the top high school students from across Canada were at McMaster University to compete for the right to be called the best brain in Canada. These twelve students had won their regional competitions. Participants were tested on their knowledge of neuroscience and their skills at patient diagnosis and neuroanatomy. Topics covered memory, sleep, intelligence, emotion, perception, stress, aging, brain-imaging, neurology, neurotransmitters, genetics, and brain disease. The top three winners received trophies and scholarship awards of $1,500, $1,000, and $500. Linday Zhu, the winner of the competition, also took home a travelling trophy to display at her school for one year, and will be given the opportunity to work as a summer intern in a neuroscience laboratory.

Zhu will represent Canada at the International Brain Bee (IBB) on August 12-15, 2010, which will be held in San Diego, California. The IBB will be hosted by the American Psychological Association during their annual conference.   

The Annual CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee was hosted by the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour (PNB) at McMaster University.  


CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee

The CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee (CCNBB) is an event that brings together the very top high school students to test their neuroscience and brain research knowledge. The Canadian winner will go on to represent Canada at the International Brain Bee, an annual event held since 1998.

Brain Bee is like a spelling bee for high school students, except that the students compete to determine who has the "best brain" on such topics as intelligence, memory, emotions, stress, brain imaging, sleep, and neurological disease. All Brain Bee competitions wrap up with the exciting oral elimination rounds which abide by the same rules as spelling bees.

To learn more about the CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee, please visit the official competition website.