International Brain Bee (IBB)

During the neuroanatomy exam, students will either work with a whole and sectioned human brain or detailed graphical illustrations. For each of the major brain structures, knowledge about the anatomical position, the origin or the main input fibres, the destination of main output fibres, grey matter nuclei, white matter tracts, the main neuronal types and their connectivity, and the main functions is required.

Then, during the neurohistology exam, students will observe human tissues placed under microscopes (or detailed graphics depending on the region), and students will be asked to identify structures, functions, and names.

The written test is made up of a multiple-choice section and a short answer section. All materials from the study guide are covered. There will be indications for single- or multiple-choice questions.

In the patient diagnosis section, students will receive video footage of a patient and their written medical history. Students may request results from three lab or imaging exams to help with the diagnosis.

The patient will have one of the possible disorders below (this is borrowed directly from the official website):

1. Genetic Disorders: Rett Syndrome (RTT), Down Syndrome (DS), Familial Hemiplegic Migraine (FHM), Huntington’s Disease (HD), Fragile X syndrome.
2. Infections: Meningitis, Prion Disease, Tetanus.
3. Degenerative Diseases: Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Frontotemporal dementia, Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
4. Vascular Disorders: Stroke, Vascular dementia.
5. Psychiatric Disorders: Depression, Schizophrenia (SCZ), Bipolar Affective Disorders (BD), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), Anxiety disorder, Obsessive compulsive disorder, Post-traumatic stress disorders, Personality disorders, Eating disorders.
6. Structural Defects: Hydrocephalus.
7. Generalized Diseases of Muscle or Peripheral Nerves: Myasthenia Gravis (MG), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
8. Trauma: Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Peripheral nerve injury (including effects of injury to the spinal accessory nerve, spinal nerves C5, T2, L4, L5, radial nerve, median nerve, ulnar nerve, femoral nerve, and sciatic nerve).
9. Epilepsy.
10. Tourette’s Syndrome (TS).
11. Neurodevelopmental Diseases: Infantile Cerebral Palsy (ICP), Spina Bifida, Down Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD).
12. Addiction and Substances of Abuse: Alcohol addiction – Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS), Drug addiction.

• This section will only be present in the International competition (and national stage for some nations).

• Once the National Champions compete in the first three exam parts as seen above, the top performers will qualify for this live judging section.

• All students will be tested at once, and the judging panel will pose questions, in which students have around 30-90 seconds to write and submit their answers.

• Answers are all individually reviewed by the panel.