The coming weekend, March 17 through 19, some of the brainiest teenagers in the nation will gather at the University of Maryland, Baltimore for the Tenth Anniversary U.S.A. Brain Bee Championship.
Students will be tested in their knowledge of a specific area: the human brain. The competition is a way of promoting the field of neuroscience, and is sponsored by the non-profit, “International Brain Bee.”
One of Nevada’s brainiest will be there. She is Sona Dixit, 15 years old and a student at Clark High School. She was the first place winner last month at the Las Vegas Brain Bee.
Sona told us that both her parents are doctors and her father is actually a neurologist.
She had to study several aspects of the brain to get ready for the competition.
“There’s a lot of information. So, I had to narrow it down to a couple of things," she told KNPR's State of Nevada, "First, neuroscience research. How scientists discover different diseases. How they discover the genetic mutations behind it. Then, I had to go to neuro-anatomy, which is a whole different part. The sections of the brain and where they are. Then, I had to go to functions, physiology, and what each part of the brain does and how the brain and spinal cord work together to control every aspect of human behavior.”
A previous Nevada winner of the Brain Bee, and her father, helped her study.
She said she is excited about this year's competition because it will include actors portraying certain neurological disorders that the contestants will have to diagnose.
Sona hopes to have a career in neuroscience one day.
Contestants at the Las Vegas Brain Bee in February 2017. The first place winner, Sona Dixit, is in the second row, fifth from the left. The three judges are in the rear/Courtesy: Las Vegas Brain Bee
Sona Dixit, Clark High School student
