Society for Neuroscience, Ottawa Chapter
1125 Colonel By Drive K1S5B6 Ottawa, ON, Canada

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to volunteer for Brain Awareness Week 2021! Every year, enthusiastic volunteers from the Society for Neuroscience, Ottawa Chapter tour local schools to introduce students to the wonders and mysteries of the brain. This year we are delivering our brain awareness week presentations virtually, with a variety of presentations to suit all grade levels and class types! Topics include learning & memory, sleep & dreaming, stress, neuro-nutrition, you...r brain on video games and more! There is no previous experience necessary. All new volunteers are paired with an experienced volunteer who has presented for Brain Awareness Week in the past and will receive all the training necessary for their presentation. Our volunteers always have a great time connecting with students of all ages and passing on their knowledge of the brain. Due to COVID-19 all the presentations will be delivered virtually, which means that you get to present from the comfort of your own home! If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us directly at [email protected].

We've got a new blog post you to digest! Have you been hearing about using ketamine as an antidepressant in neuroscience research? An acclaimed study published in Nature from Carleton University's own Dr. Argel Aguilar-Valles shows the molecular keys in ketamine as an antidepressant. Check out the summary and an interview with Dr. Aguilar-Valles below:

Dr. Ashley Thompson, one of our Brain Bee coordinators and honours workshop instructor at Carleton University, with some great words for everyone graduating this year. Thanking all of the wonderful graduates who volunteered with us over the years for their time to help make all of our neuroscience outreach and education activities a huge success. We couldn't have done made such a lasting and important impact on the Ottawa community without you. Congratulations Class of '20! Here's to all the best beyond 2020.

We’re all #WFH, which space do you like best? 1) @majaramljak and her minimalist study space? 2) @garjean and his make shift #catan standing desk? 3) Natalie’s space, house hippo included ? Or 4) @oodleknoodle and his sweet, creative space? I don’t think there’s any real competition here #staysafe @ Ottawa, Ontario

For the Ottawa Community: It is with heavy hearts that we at The Society for Neuroscience, Ottawa Chapter have to announce the temporary suspension of our public outreach and educational activities in the Ottawa area. Given the recent global and local situation regarding the COVID-19 outbreak and the World Health Organization recently designating the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic we must do all we can to protect our students, volunteers and members of the Ottawa commun...ity. As such, we are suspending our educational outreach activities at the Museum of Science & Technology and in addition we will be suspending our annual Brain & Mental Health Art Show in support of Ancoura scheduled for Friday April 3, 2020. The aforementioned activities are to be suspended indefinitely. Our suspension of educational and outreach activities at the Museum of Science & Technology and our fundraising activities such as the Brain & Mental Health Art Show will be reassessed and rescheduled at an appropriate time in the future. Additionally, the international competition of the Brain Bee has been suspended and the Canadian National Brain Bee competition viability is currently under review. We are following with Canadian National Brain Bee suit and are reviewing the viability of competition. We will continue to support our local Brain Bee competition at this time. Again, our main priority is to prevent undue exposure of COVID-19 to our students, volunteers and the broader Ottawa community that we serve. We are grateful and appreciate all the support the community has shown over the years and look forward to serving the community in the future. For more information on COVID-19 please consult Ottawa Public Health and please take the necessary precautions to prevent exposure to yourself and those around you.

There's still time to submit your artwork! Check out our new promo video for the Brain & Mental Health Art Show '20 Submissions are now open at: https://form.jotform.com/BMHArtShow/art-show-2020

The Chee lab at Carleton University is on to something! Help them meet their goals for their Brain Freeze run coming up this week!