From neurotransmitters to stress to brain diseases, a group of high school students spent the day March 20 showing off their brain knowledge at the fourth annual UWindsor Brain Bee competition.

The annual event had the biggest turn out yet, with more than 30 students from grades 11 and 12 competing. The top three competitors received entrance scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,500 to study the program of their choice in the Faculty of Science at the University of Windsor.

Eleventh grader Adalyn Matteis from St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic High School claimed first place; Grade 12 student Rami Haddadin from F.J. Brennan Catholic High School finished second; Grade 11 student Niyanika Ghosh from Riverside Secondary School placed third.

Matteis will represent the Windsor area in the CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee held virtually on April 20. The top three competitors from that competition will go to the Canadian Neuroscience Meeting in Vancouver in May and compete in the final round.

Brain Bee competitions are held globally. UWindsor’s Brain Bee was organized by Jeff Dason, biomedical sciences professor; Michelle Bondy, experiential learning specialist; graduate student volunteers from Dr. Dason’s lab Dunya Assaf, Allie St. Louis, and Adam Sghaier; and undergraduate volunteers Sana Assaf and Simona Brazeanu. In addition to the competition, students participated in tours of the neuroscience labs of Dason and professor Huiming Zhang.