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A 14-year-old Shenton College student's knowledge of neuroscience has earned her the title of Australia's ‘brainiest' student and a trip to California in August for the International Brain Bee Challenge.Uma Jha was a finalist in the Brain Bee State finals held at The University of Western Australia last June. State coordinator Dr Jennifer Rodger, from UWA's School of Animal Biology, said the Brain Bee gave students a great introduction to the fascinating field of neuroscience.

The challenge is a quiz about important facts concerning intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, ageing, sleep, Alzheimer's disease and stroke. Participants are asked multiple-choice questions such as: The average human brain loses about what percentage of its weight over a lifetime?

"It also encourages them to explore science in general. We hope to motivate young people to learn about the brain, maybe capture their imagination and inspire them to pursue careers in biomedical research," Dr Rodger said

Coordinated by the Queensland Brain Institute, part of the University of Queensland, the preliminary round attracted more than 10,000 Australian and New Zealand high school students. Those who made it through the WA final took part in national finals in Sydney last month.

Media references

Dr Jennifer Rodger (UWA School of Animal Biology)  (+61 8)6488 2245
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)6488 5563 / (+61 4) 32 637 716