Secondary school students from across Alaska gathered at UAA on Saturday, Feb. 21, for the annual Alaska Regional Brain Bee, a free, all-day event with hands-on activities, presentations and a competition.

While the question-and-answer competition is the signature part of the event, much of the day is spent exploring campus and participating in neuroscience activities. This year's attendees dissected sheep brains, learned how live laboratory rats are used in research, played a memory game presented by the Alzheimer's Association of Alaska, took a virtual tour of the human brain in the UAA Planetarium & Visualization Theater and examined real human brains in the UAA Anatomy Lab.

"Although you have to be in high school to officially participate in the competition, a lot of the activities are fun for younger students who are welcome to attend every year," said Gwen Lupfer, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and one of the event's faculty organizers, along with Christopher Jung, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences.

This year, dozens of high school students went head-to-head competing for prizes and testing their knowledge of the human brain on topics such as intelligence, emotions, memory, sleep, vision, hearing, sensations, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression, addictions and brain research.

Prizes for competitors included ribbons for the top five winners (thanks to the Alzheimer's Association of Alaska) as well as $500 scholarships to UAA (thanks to the University Honors College) and trophies for the top three winners. The grand prize winner, Viola Voigt, also received entry into the 2026 USA Brain Bee Championship at University of California, Irvine, lodging for the event and airfare for themselves and a guardian.

Fittingly, Voigt accepted the top-place trophy from last year's winner, Konnie Towner, a graduate of the Biomedical Career Academy at Service High School and current UAA student. Reflecting on her experience at the regional and national events, Towner shared her advice for future competitors.

"Take it easy and have fun. There's so much more to this event — even if you make it to nationals, there's so much more than just competing. So, relax, learn all about the brain and enjoy," said Towner, who traveled to Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey for the 2025 USA Brain Bee.

Towner praised the national championship for emphasizing brain health and socializing among competitors. "I loved meeting all the different people, hearing what they're interested in and how they got there. They encouraged us to talk to each other, not just as competitors, but as peers — people to learn from, but also people to teach."

Another highlight for Towner was meeting USA Brain Bee founder and co-director, Dr. Norbert Myslinski. While travelling on a bus from the hotel to the competition, she overheard him mention the Alaska T-shirt was missing from his collection that year. 

"For every competition, every year, he collects the shirts from each participating state, and he turns them into quilts," said Towner. Fortunately, she happened to have her shirt, unworn, at the ready, which she gave to him to add to the 2025 quilt. "He loves to meet the competitors; he loves to see what path they're going towards. Brain health is extremely important, and I admire that he made all of this just for people to learn more about the brain."

The 2026 Alaska Regional Brain Bee was made possible with support from Anchorage Neurosurgical Associates, WWAMI School of Medical Education, UAA University Honors College, UAA College of Arts and Sciences, UAA Department of Psychology, UAA Department of Biological Sciences, UAA Center for Community Engagement and Learning, and the Alzheimer's Association of Alaska.