GRANVILLE —Denison University students and faculty are gearing up to host the Denison University Brain Bee from 2 – 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6, in the Burton D. Morgan lecture hall (150 Ridge Road). Local high school students may register for the competition with Nestor Matthews, associate professor of psychology, at matthewsn@denison.edu.

The Denison University Brain Bee is the local competition for the International Brain Bee (IBB), based at the University of Maryland. The IBB’s mission is “… to motivate our youth to learn about the brain, capture their imagination and inspire them to pursue careers in biomedical brain research.”

Matthews notes, “More than any other organ, the brain plays a central role in making humans human. Yet neuroscience is poorly represented in K-12 education. Denison University has a responsibility to promote the public understanding of neuroscience and to show that neuroscience is fun.”

Competitors at the local/regional level are judged on their mastery of the information found in the study document “Brain Facts,” which is available on the Internet. Denison students in the Nu Rho Psi neuroscience honor society also have produced an IPod-friendly audio version of “Brain Facts,” which can be found at denison.edu/~matthewsn/brainbeehowtostudy.html. The same web site contains Brain Bee practice questions.

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CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville —Denison University Brain Bee Brain Bee Competition at 2 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 6, in the Burton D. Morgan Lecture Hall (150 Ridge Road). Competitors must register with Associate Professor Nestor Matthews at matthewsn@denison.edu. Free and open to the public.