What is the Vermont Brain Bee? Simply put, it’s both a competition and an experience, featuring speakers, access to lab specimens, and other students who love learning about the Brain!
The Brain Bee is divided into multiple sections, each of which tackle an important area of the field of neuroscience. Whether you’re interested in dissecting brains or working with patients, there’s something for you here!
The competition parts of the Brain Bee are the written test, lab practical, and final round. See below for details.
The Brain Bee, Broken Down
I. Written Test
Answer multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions based on the Brain Facts Book (see prepare tab); topics range from diseases to the science of sleep.
Sample Question: What types of cells help guide migration during neurodevelopment?
A) Motor Neurons
B) Afferent Nerve Fibers
C) Radial Glia
D) Efferent Nerve Fibers
Answer: Radial Glia! (These are helper cells in the brain that create ‘scaffolding’ for developing neural cells)
II. Practical Test
Go into the neuroanatomy lab and identify various anatomical structures. Check out the Brain Bee Boot Camp for hands on exploration!
Sample Question: What Brain Area is Highlighted In This Diagram?
A: The Hypothalamus!
Case Presentations
Dr. Feyza Basoglu and Dr. Sharon Leech, who each specialize in psychology professions, will present two case studies of patients with various neurological and psychological disorders. Students will ask questions and use their knowledge to diagnose the patient. This section is for enrichment and not graded. The National Brain Bee does include a graded diagnosis section.
Disorders include: Major Depression, Parkinson’s Disease, Epilepsy
Example: Patient seems very anxious, evidenced by stuttering and frequent clearing of the throat. They also report some sleep problems and uncontrollably wince frequently.
Diagnosis: Probable Tourette’s syndrome, given both a vocal (throat clearing) and motor (wincing) tic.
III. Oral Round
The Final Round is a round where questions are flashed on the screen, and participants have one minute to write them down before moving on to the next question. The questions asked get progressively difficult.
Example:
—Lunch Break–
Keynote Speaker
The 2026 Brain Bee’s Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Ruth Fabian-Fine, who is a neuroscientist at St. Michael’s College. She studies neurodegeneration in spiders as a model for human disease. This section is also not graded.
IV. Final Round
The top eight students with the highest cumulative score from the written and lab practical rounds advance to the final round. They answer progressively difficult questions, with 30 seconds to answer each one.
Sample Question: Which brain receptors are blocked by caffeine in order to reduce sleepiness?
Answer: Adenosine Receptors!
V. Panel Discussion
UVM undergraduate and graduate students who study neuroscience and related fields will lead a panel discussion. Students have the opportunity to ask their burning questions about neuroscience, research, and college in general as final scores are tallied up.
Closing
The top three individuals and top team will be acknowledged. The top individual competitor will be invited to compete in National Brain Bee with support from Vermont Brain Bee fundraising efforts!