A UTA team won the 2017 Brain Bowl, outsmarting the defending champions from the University of Texas at Dallas. The trivia event was organized by the Center for Biomedical Neuroscience at UT Health San Antonio.
The Brain Bowl, a premier event of Brain Awareness Week for the neuroscience community, includes three rounds of short-answer questions that increase in difficulty. The final round consists of a single complex challenge question, where teams wager points they have accumulated in previous rounds.
UTA's team included Brandon Butler, who graduated in 2016 with a degree in anthropology and biology; Josimar Hernandez, a psychology major; J.C. Holt, a biology and psychology major; and Ariel Elmore, a psychology graduate who began her doctorate in neuroscience this fall. The team mentor was Linda Perrotti, associate professor of psychology.
The questions asked during the Brain Bowl cover many fields of neuroscience research, including neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neuropharmacology, and more.
"UTA's team took on this challenge and beat out great teams from across Texas," says psychology Chair Perry Fuchs. "It clearly reflects on the leadership of UTA in the growing field of neuroscience."
Are you smarter than a brain bowler?
Test your neuroscience knowledge with these Brain Bowl questions.
Question 1: Name the most prevalent inhibitory amino acid transmitter in the brain.
Show AnswerAnswer 1: Gamma-aminobutryic acid (GABA)
Question 2: Sensory projections from the lateral geniculate nucleus terminate in what area of the cortex?
Show AnswerAnswer 2: Primary visual cortex, also known as V1
