Neuroscience for Kids

Neuroscience for Kids has been created for everybody who would like to learn about the nervous system.

Discover the exciting world of the brain, spinal cord, neurons, and the senses. Use the experiments, activities, and games to help you learn about the nervous system. There are plenty of links to other websites for you to explore.

Books and Articles for School Students

Books and Articles for Elementary School Students

  • The Brain, in Life Magazine, February 1997, pp. 60-63.
  • Rasheda Ali, I'll Hold Your Hand So You Won't Fall. A Child's Guide to Parkinson's Disease, West Palm Beach (FL): Merit Publishing, 2005, pp. 40.
  • Aliki, My Five Senses, New York, Crowell, 1989, pp. 31.
  • Francesca Baines, Senses: How We Connect With The World, Danbury: Grolier Educational, 1998, pp. 48.
  • Carol Ballard, How Do We Think?, Austin, Steck-Vaughn Co., 1998, pp. 32.
  • Jim Barmeier, The Brain, San Diego, Lucent Books, 1996, pp. 128.
  • Susan L. Barrett, It's All in Your Head: A Guide to Understanding Your Brain and Boosting Your Brain Power, Minneapolis, Free Spirit Publishing, 1992.
  • Paul Bennett, My Brain and Senses, Parsippany, Silver Press, 1998, pp. 32.
  • Ruth Dowling Bruun and Bertel Bruun, The Brain - What It Is, What It Does, New York, Green Willow Books, 1989, pp. 63.
  • Giovanni Caselli, The Human Body and How It Works, New York, Grosset and Dunlap, 1987, pp. 64.
  • Charles B. Clayman, The Brain and Nervous System, New York, Dorling Kindersley, 1991, pp. 144.
  • Sharon Cromwell, Why Do I Laugh or Cry? And Other Questions About The Nervous System, Rigby Interactive Library, Des Plaines, Illinois, 1998, pp. 24.
  • Marian C. Diamond, Arnold B. Scheibel, Lawrence M. Elson, The Human Brain Coloring Book, New York, Barnes and Noble Books, 1985, pp. 301.
  • Jennifer Dussling, The Longest Yawn, New York: Kane Press, 2005, pp. 32.
  • Fred Ehrlich, You Can't Use Your Brain If You're a Jellyfish, Maplewood (NJ): Blue Apple Books, 2005.
  • Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries, The Visual Dictionary of the Human Body, New York, Dorling Kindersley, 1991, pp. 64.
  • Mem Fox, Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, Brooklyn, Kane/Miller, 1985. (Story about memory)
  • Helen Frost, Pebble Books, Mankato (MN), 2000. Each book is 24 pages. (Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, Touching, Your Senses)
  • Sylvia Funston and Jay Ingram, It's All in Your Brain, New York, Grosset and Dunlap, 1995, pp. 64.
  • Robert D. Griffin, The Biology Coloring Book, New York, Harper Collins, 1986, pp. 256.
  • Robert James, Discovery Library of the Human Body, Vero Beach, The Rourke Press, 1995. Each book is 24 pages. (Ears, Eyes, Feet, Hands, Mouth, Nose)
  • Mike Janulewicz, YIKES! Your body, up close!, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1997.
  • Wynn Kapit and Lawrence M. Elson, The Anatomy Coloring Book, New York, Harper Collins, 1993, pp. 352.
  • KIDS Discover- Issue on the Brain, Vol. 6, Issue 2, Kids Discover, New York, February, 1996, pp. 19.
  • Leslie Jean LeMaster, Your Brain and Nervous System, Chicago, Childrens Press, 1984, pp. 47.
  • Suzanne LeVert, The Brain, Tarrytown (NY): Benchmark Books, 2002, 48 pages.
  • Douglas Mathers, Brain, Troll Associates, 1992, pp. 32.
  • Elaine N. Marieb, The A and P Coloring Workbook, A Complete Study Guide, third edition, Benjamin/Cummings.
  • Rebecca Olien, Hearing | Seeing | Smelling | Tasting | Touching , Mankato (MN): Capstone Press, 2006 (each book is 24 pages).
  • Steve Parker, Brain Surgery for Beginners and Other Major Operations for Minors, Brookfield, Millbrook Press, 1995, pp. 62.
  • Steve Parker, Look at your Body Senses, Brookfield, Copper Beech Books, 1997, pp. 32.
  • Steve Parker, The Body Atlas, New York, Dorling Kindersley, 1993.
  • Steve Parker, The Brain and Nervous System, London, Franklin Watts, 1990, pp. 48.
  • Steve Parker, Nerves to Senses: Projects in Biology, New York, Gloucester Press, 1991, pp. 32.
  • Steve Parker, Touch, Taste and Smell, New York, Franklin Watts, 1989, pp. 40.
  • Pete Rowan, Big Head! A Book About Your Brain and Your Head, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998, pp. 44.
  • Anna Sandeman, Brain, Brookfield, Copper Beech Books, 1996, pp. 31.
  • Alvin Silverstein and Virginia B. Silverstein, The Story of Your Ear, New York, Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1981, pp. 64.
  • Seymour Simon, The Brain: Our Nervous System, New York, Morrow Junior Books, 1997.
  • Seymour Simon, Professor I.Q. Explores the Brain, Honesdale, Boyds Mill Press, 1993, pp. 48.
  • Darlene R. Stille, The Nervous System, New York, Grolier Publishing Co., 1997, pp. 47.
  • Susan Stockdale, Some Sleep Standing Up, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1996.
  • Diane Swanson, Nibbling on Einstein's Brain: The Good, the Bad and the Bogus in Science, Toronto: Annick Press, 2001, 112 pages.
  • Helen Taylor, You'd Never Believe it But Flies Can Taste with Their Feet and Other Facts about Senses, Brookfield, Copper Beach Books, 1998, pp. 32.
  • Richard Walker, Brain. Our Body's Nerve Center, Danbury, Grolier Educational, 1998.
  • Brenda Walpole, Smell and Taste, Austin, Steck-Vaughn, 1997, pp. 30.
  • Brian R. Ward, The Eye and Seeing, London, Franklin Watts, 1981, pp. 48.
  • Harriet Ziefert, You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear, New York: Blue Apple Books, 2002, 34 pages.

Materials for Middle School Students

  • Fires of Pain: Burn Pain and Its Treatment
  • Manhattan Project of the Mind (J. Barrett): An article focusing on brain imaging research.

Books, Articles, Audio for High School Students

  • Dana Foundation Publication Archive
  • Fires of Pain - Burn Pain and Its Treatment
  • Manhattan Project of the Mind - An article focusing on brain imaging research.
  • Dr. William H. Calvin - a professor at the Univ. of Washington has many chapters from his books and magazine articles about the nervous system here on his site, for example, The Cerebral Code, Conversations with Neil's Brain, The Emergence of Intelligence, How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now, The Ascent of Mind, The Cerebral Symphony, and The Throwing Madonna

Overviews of the Nervous System

  • Faith Hickman Brynie, 101 Questions Your Brain Has Asked Itself But Couldn't Answer Until Now, Millbrook Press, Brookfield, 1998, 176 pages.
  • Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1998, 224 pages.
  • Roberta Conlan (editor), States of Mind: New Discoveries About How Our Brains Make Us Who We Are, New York, Dana Press, 1999, 214 pages.
  • Joel Davis, Mapping the Mind. The Secrets of the Human Brain and How It Works, Birch Lane Press, Secaucus, 1997, 289 pages.
  • Stanislas Dehaene, The Number Sense. How the Mind Creates Mathematics, Oxford University Press, 1997, 274 pages.
  • Marian C. Diamond, Arnold B. Scheibel, Lawrence M. Elson, The Human Brain Coloring Book, Barnes and Noble Books, New York, 1985, 301 pages.
  • Susan A. Greenfield, The Human Brain, BasicBooks, New York, 1997, 160 pages.
  • Susan A. Greenfield, The Human Mind Explained, Henry Holt and Co., New York, 1996, 192 pages. An EXCELLENT guide to the brain with plenty of pictures.
  • Robert D. Griffin, The Biology Coloring Book, Harper Collins, New York, 1986, 256 pages.
  • Wynn Kapit and Lawrence M. Elson, The Anatomy Coloring Book, Harper Collins, New York, 1993, 352 pages.
  • Harold L. Klawans, Why Michael Couldn't Hit, and Other Tales of the Neurology of Sports, W.H. Freeman, New York, 1996, 308 pages.
  • Kenneth A. Klivington, The Science of the Mind, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1989, 239 pages.
  • Ronald Kotulak, Inside the Brain, Andrews and McMeel, Kansas City, 1996.
  • Elaine N. Marieb, The A&P Coloring Workbook, A Complete Study Guide, 3rd edition, Benjamin/Cummings.
  • John McCrone, The Ape That Spoke. Language and the Evolution of the Human Mind, William Morrow and Company, New York, 1991, 288 pages.
  • D. Michael McKeough, Coloring Review of Neuroscience, 2nd edition, Little, Brain and Co., 1995.
  • Paul Nordstrom August, The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Drugs, Series 2, Brain Function, Chelsea House Publ., New York, 1988, 123 pages.
  • Tabitha M. Powledge, Your Brain: How You Got It and How it Works, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1994, 210 pages.
  • J. Lawrence Pool, Nature's Masterpiece. The Brain and How it Works, Walker and Co., New York, 1987, 144 pages.
  • Brain Briefings - A great resource with short discussion of topics including Epilepsy and GABA, The Roots of ALS, Alzheimer's Abnormalities, The Retinoblastoma Gene, Birth Defects, Multiple Sclerosis, The Prefrontal Cortex and Schizophrenia, Huntington's Disease Genetics, Parkinson's and Dopamine, The Senses, Sleep, Brain Imaging, Development, Brain Mechanisms (Serotonin and Judgment, The Brain's Stash, Cell Suicide, Oxidative Stress and Brain Disorders, The Opiate Receptor, Neurotrophic Factors, NMDA Receptor Blockers, Biological Clocks)
  • Brain Facts. A Primer on the Brain and Nervous System, Society for Neuroscience, Washington, D.C., 2012
  • V. S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee, Phantoms in the Brain : Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind, William Morrow and Company, New York, 1998, 320 pages.
  • Jean Stine and Camden Benares, It's All in Your Head, Prentice Hall, New York, 1994, 248 pages.
  • Time/Life Books, How Things Work - The Brain, Time/Life Books, Alexandria, 1990.
  • Carol Turkington, The Brain Encyclopedia, Facts on File, Inc., New York, 1995, 316 pages.

Specific Areas of the Nervous System

  • John Downer, Supersense. Perception in the Animal World, Holt and Co., New York, 1988, 160 pages.
  • Jillyn Smith, Senses & Sensibilities, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1989, 230 pages.
  • William H. Calvin and George A. Ojemann, Conversations with Neil's Brain: The Neural Nature of Thought and Language, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., New York, 1995, 352 pages.
  • William H. Calvin and George A. Ojemann, Inside the Brain, New American Library, New York, 1980, 226 pages.
  • Richard K. Cooley and C.H. Vanderwolf, The Sheep Brain; A basic guide, A.J. Kirby, Co., London, Ontario, Canada, 1979, 34 pages.
  • Stephen J. DeArmond, Madeline M. Fusco and Maynard M. Dewey, Structure of the Human Brain. A Photographic Atlas, Oxford University Press, New York, 1976, 186 pages.
  • Eric R. Kandel, James H. Schwartz and Thomas M. Jessel, Principles of Neural Science, Elsevier, New York, 1991, 1135 pages. (This textbook is a comprehensive overview of the whole field of neuroscience and is used in many university graduate and undergraduate courses)
  • M.B. Macmillan, A wonderful journey through skull and brains: the travels of Mr. Gage's tamping iron, Brain and Cognition, vol. 5, pp. 67-107, 1986. (History and analysis of the brain injury sustained by Mr. Phineas Gage)
  • Carl Sagan, The Dragons of Eden, Ballantine Books, New York, 1977, 271 pages.

Neuroscience Videos for Students and Teachers

  • Decade of the Brain Tapes
  • Films for the Humanities & Sciences - several videos about the senses and brain, but they tend to be expensive.

Eric H. Chudler is a research neuroscientist at the University of Washington. He is primarily interested in how the central nervous system processes information about pain. In addition to performing neuroscience research, Eric works with other neuroscientists and classroom teachers to develop educational materials to help students learn about the brain. His website, Neuroscience for Kids, is used by students and teachers around the world.

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