National British Brain Bee Championship 2023

After the challenging Online British Brain Bee competition 2023, 32 students from across the UK were invited to the National British Brain Bee 2023 competition which was held on Saturday, February 4th, 2023 at London Metropolitan University.

In the first live event since 2019 participants, their families, and volunteers were involved in a fun day of exciting talks and interactive competitions. The British Brain Bee is the UK’s premier neuroscience competition for teenagers which has been running since 2016. Founded by Martyna Petrulyte, the competition aims to inspire young people to choose a career in brain science.

Among the guest speakers was Professor Gareth Barnes. Who works on the development of human brain imaging systems. His expertise is in magnetoencephalography (MEG), or the measurement of magnetic fields from the human brain. Professor Barnes leads the MEG group at the Centre. In the event, he presented the current news in the field of magnetoencephalography.

After completing a series of multiple-choice question exams the top 10 students were selected to qualify for a live question and answer round. Professor Barnes, Dr Cassandra Terry and Dr Elizabeth Prabhakar were appointed as judges.

Students were given 15 questions to answer in 45 seconds. The judges then evaluated the correctness of each answer and gave points for every correct answer. Students had to answer such questions as: “Wallerian degeneration affects which part of the neuron?”, “Which gyrus is the home for the “grandmother” neurons responsible for face perception and object recognition?” and “What is the main function of the radial glial cells?”.

After an intense battle, Top 3 students were announced during the Awards ceremony.

3rd place – Luisa Vasques Callegari

2nd place – Chau Chun Hei

1st place 2023 National Brain Bee Champion – Kornelia Bartoszewicz

The winners received neuroscience textbooks, Amazon Gift cards, and a Brain Bee trophy as well as a medal. All competitors received certificates of participation. The first-place winner will be invited to represent the UK in the International Brain Bee competition which will be held later in August in Washington, D.C.