Webinar: Natural History at Home – 'Amazing Brains!'
Aired March 13, 2021
Katie Derloshon:
Good morning everyone. Welcome to today's Natural History at Home Family Program, brought to you by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. My name is Katie and I am an educator from the museum and I am so happy to be here with you for today's program. Before we begin, we'd like to give a special thanks to our generous donors, volunteers, and other important partners who enable us to discover, create, and share new knowledge with the world today and every day free of charge. For today's program, we will be joined by two guests, brain scientist and author Elaine Miller and illustrator Marli Richmond. Together they will share their amazing book with us, "Amazing Brains," which explores different sizes, shapes, and specialized parts of different animal brains. Following our reading, we will practice scientific drawing skills by drawing two of the brains we learned about from the story.
Now we have a question already popping up in the Q&A. So yes, we're already finding that Q&A. So someone is asking, "Will we see real brains in this event?" So while we won't be seeing real brains from this event today, we will be looking at some drawings by our artist, Marli Richmond, that are based on actual animal brains. And you'll get the opportunity to also draw along and learn how to draw two of these different animal brains. So we won't be seeing real animal brains today, but we will be looking at some scientific drawings based off of these brains. All right, now speaking of us drawing in our program or creating some ... Hold on one second here. Let me share my screen with everyone.
So speaking of art that we create during our programs, each month we always like to see from our participants some of those activities that they create alongside us. And so for that, you'll need some supplies. So for our drawing activity today, you will need a couple sheets of paper, at least one for every artist that will be participating, a pencil, and if you have some available, some coloring supplies like crayons or markers, those will come in handy too. And we can't wait to see your amazing brains that you draw with your family today. And speaking of what our viewers draw, let's look at some of our art from last month's or from January's program actually. So during January's program, we were joined by author and illustrator Susan Stockdale for a reading of her book, "Stripes of All Types," and she shared with us her steps on how she creates her book and invited us all to create our own butterflies and books too. So thanks for everyone for sending in those butterflies. These are great, and they were sure fun to look at.
All right. Now while we are waiting for everyone else to get to join our program, and before we meet Elaine and Marli, let me quickly go over a few logistical things to help us navigate through today's program. So today's program is designed to last around 45 minutes, which will then be followed by a short question and answer session with Elaine and Marli. There will also be a recording of the program posted on our website in the future that you can refer back to if you need to leave early or if you want to watch it again. During the program. We love to get your questions and comments. So to talk with us, you can use that Q&A feature, which you can find at the bottom or the top of your screen. And we may not be able to answer all the questions immediately, but we will try to pause throughout the program to squeeze a few of those in.
And we're also going to stay hopefully for a few minutes at the end to answer some of those questions that might have came in that we weren't able to get through during our program. We also have closed captioning available, and if you would like to turn those on, you can find the CC button located near that Q&A feature to turn those on. We also have an amazing team working behind the scenes in that Q&A that you might interact with if you use the Q&A feature today. So we have Gale, Christian and Odalys and Vinhil on the back end today helping us out. So thanks team. So happy to have you here as well. So while our museum is closed, we're broadcasting from our homes and I'm coming to you from my home in Alexandria, Virginia. So people at home, it's your turn now to share with us where you are joining us from so you can use that Q&A feature to let us know where you're joining us from.
All right, so let's see. We've got Marcus and Marilyn. Hello, Marcus. Hello, Nita from D.C. And Inez, welcoming Inez from D.C. So happy to have you. Joseph in Virginia Beach. Awesome. Oh, Thomas and Mattie, also in Alexandria. Hello, neighbors. And David from New Jersey. Anlafa in Illinois. Sophie, hello Sophie in England. So happy to have you again. And Erin as well in D.C. And Adriana and Lucas from Guatemala. Awesome, welcome. Thank you so much everyone for joining us. And hello again, my name is Katie, for those of you who might have just joined us, and I'm excited to welcome you to today's program. Again, today we are going to learn about brains and how they come in different sizes and shapes. And together we'll listen to a book about many different types of animal brains. And after the book we will hear from our experts on how they learned about brains and worked together to create this book in order to share this knowledge with others.
Then we will learn how to draw two brains together from the book to highlight some of those important features that we learned about. Now to help guide us through our learning today, we are excited to welcome two guest experts. So let's go ahead and say hello to them. Hello, Elaine Miller and hello Marli Richmond.
Marli Richmond:
Hey, everyone.
Katie Derloshon:
Hello. Hello. So happy to have you both here today. Hello. All right, so let's jump right in. Elaine, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Elaine Miller:
Sure, yes. So my name is Elaine Miller. I'm from California. I have two cats named Mama and Sebastian. And Sebastian's actually right behind me here. He's joining the program too. So right now I'm a graduate student, which means that I graduated from high school, I graduated from college, and now I'm continuing my studies by doing my very own research. So my research is about primate brains and what makes them special.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. Elaine, what is a primate?
Elaine Miller:
That's a very good question. So primates are a group of mammals and like other mammals, they have hair and they breastfeed. But primates are special because they spend time in trees typically, and they have fingernails instead of claws. And many primate species are very social, and there's lots of primate species you might know about. So lemurs, like in the movie "Madagascar," and great apes like King Louis the orangutan in "The Jungle Book," and humans are also primates. And so every primate has a brain and primate brains are usually bigger and have more neurons compared to other animals. I study chimpanzee brains because when chimpanzees are babies, they spend all their time with their mothers and caregivers. And I'm really interested in learning how this very close relationship nurtures the brain so it can grow very healthy.
Katie Derloshon:
All right, neat. So Elaine, as a brain scientist, you ask questions and do research on brains, but how did you get interested in this type of science?
Elaine Miller:
When I was little, I was like a lot of kids and probably a lot of kids in the audience, I was just curious about all kinds of things, but I really liked different kinds of animals, so I was always interested in animals. I actually didn't think about becoming a scientist until much later though, because when I started college, I took classes to become a nurse, but I had so much fun in the science classes that I decided to change focus and just study animals. And so when I was studying animals, I think the most interesting part was learning about how animal brains have changed slowly over time to be really good at one thing. And so I really wanted to understand how this happens, and I really wanted to understand how species are different, but especially primates.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing, Elaine. It's always fun to see how our experts were when they were young and to hear about their journey into their science. All right, so Marli, also welcome to you, to our guest illustrator, Marli. Marli, can you tell us a little bit about yourself too?
Marli Richmond:
Thanks, Katie. Sure. So my name is Marli Richmond and I grew up in North Carolina, but now I live in Washington, D.C. I actually work at the university where Elaine does her research. And I also paint and I illustrate all kinds of things, but my favorite thing to illustrate are books for kids who love to read. What I like about drawing is that in order to draw something, you have to really study it, you have to examine it and look at it. So art is a way for me to see the world and to learn about the world while I'm being creative.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. All right. So thank you for sharing MarlI too. And we're excited for you both to come together to share how to draw some of these brains with the families so that we too can learn about the world while being creative just like you, Marli. And together we'll be able to truly experience how art and science work together.
All right. So Elaine and Marli, I'm pretty sure we all cannot wait to hear your book. So friends at home, Marli and Elaine are going to share their book with you now all about brains. And as they read, different parts are different animal brains. As they read about these different animal brains, see if you can notice any parts of the brain that are the same or that are different. Alrighty, Elaine and Marli, I'm going to turn my camera off, but feel free to start whenever you are ready.
Marli Richmond:
Awesome. All right, let's get started. This is "Amazing Brains" written by Elaine Miller and illustrated by Marli Richmond.
Elaine Miller:
All right. Animals have brains — pale pink jelly stuff inside their heads. Brains are made up of special cells called neurons and glia. In many ways animal brains are very similar. But there are features that make each animal brain unique. Some brains are big and some are small, some are wrinkly and some are smooth. Some animal brains have specialized parts that do extraordinary functions.
Marli Richmond:
Mice feel with whiskers to sense environmental change, to explore new objects and map their home range. This is the mouse brain and it has an amazing barrel cortex. Mice navigate their surroundings by their sense of touch using a special area of the brain called the barrel cortex. As mice wander, their whiskers brush up against their surroundings. This touch information is sent to the barrel cortex so that mice can learn about the environment around them.
Elaine Miller:
And here we have the chickadee. So chickadees make memories as they hide their seed to keep track of their stashes and return later to feed. So chickadees have this amazing hippocampus. Chickadees stash seed when it is plentiful to eat later when it is scarce. As chickadees hide their seed, the hippocampus, which makes memories, grows to be extra big. Chickadees use their extra-big hippocampus to remember where their seed is stashed so they can return to those spots for a meal.
Marli Richmond:
Spider monkeys grasp with their tails to hang in trees to reach fleshy fruits and to swing through canopies. This is the amazing motor cortex in the monkey brain. Spider monkeys live high in the forest where they hold onto trees by wrapping their tails around branches. Spider monkeys like lots of animals, have a motor cortex, which controls movements of all parts of the body. But the motor cortex of the spider monkey has a very large area that controls tail curling. Spider monkeys use their special motor cortex to wrap their tails around branches so they can hang in the trees.
Elaine Miller:
All right, and the bat. So bats listen for sound waves as they soar in the sky to navigate their surroundings and hunt insects that fly. So bats have this amazing auditory cortex. So bats navigate their surroundings by their sense of hearing. Like many animals, bats have an auditory cortex, which helps to understand sounds, but the auditory cortex of the bat is enormous. So as bats fly around, they make clicky sound waves that bounce off their surroundings and back into their ears, and the sound information is sent to their enormous auditory cortex so that bats can sense the environment around them.
Marli Richmond:
Sharks sense electricity as they swim the vast seas to hunt nearby fishes and enjoy feeding frenzies. This is the amazing octavolateralis area. Sharks hunt for fishes by sensing the tiny electric currents in the fish's body. Sharks have bubbles on their faces called ampulla that catch these tiny electric currents. Each ampulla connects to a special area of the brain called the octavolateralis area, which receives the electric signal so that sharks can find fish to eat.
Elaine Miller:
And humans. So humans use words to have pleasant conversation, to share their ideas and engage in cooperation. So this is a human brain with a special Wernicke's and Broca's areas. So humans communicate using special areas of the brain called Wernicke's and Broca's area. Although many parts of the brain are involved in language, Broca's area helps humans make words while Wernicke's area helps humans understand words so that people can talk to each other.
Marli Richmond:
Vipers sense heat as they slither around to hunt fat rats and gobble them down. This is the amazing trigeminal nerve. Vipers hunt for rats by sensing the heat that radiates from the rat's body. Vipers have bumps on their faces called the pit organ that catch this radiating heat and connect it to the trigeminal nerve. Lots of animals have a trigeminal nerve, but the trigeminal nerve of the viper is huge. It carries the heat signal from the pit organ to the brain so that vipers can find rats to eat.
Elaine Miller:
And here we have the elephants. So elephants swing their trunks to sniff along paths to grab their favorite grasses and take mud baths. So elephants have an amazing cerebellum. Today we think that elephants have a large cerebellum to maneuver their giant trunks, but this hypothesis has not been tested. If you want to test hypotheses like this one and explore the natural world, then be a scientist, because everyone has the potential to advance science regardless of gender, race, or disability. And there's still so much to be discovered.
Katie Derloshon:
All right. Wow, what a great book, Elaine and Marli. I personally had no idea that animal brains all would look so different, and I also learned that all of the animal brains were used differently too. So families at home, I have a question for you. What did you notice while reading this book or listening to this book that was the same or different about animal brains?
You can share with us in the Q&A some of those observations you made. And I'm going to show a picture of the book that has those brains that we talked about in it again. So share with us in the Q&A some of those things you noticed that were the same or that were different about the animal brains. Ooh. All right. So Clover's noticing that they're all pink. Elaine and Marli, are brains all pink?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, that's such a good question. So yeah, I don't think we've ever found a brain that's not really pink and brains are actually pink because they have so much blood in them. And so this blood is really important for the brain because it takes so much energy for the brain to work, and this blood actually brings sugar and oxygen and everything the brain needs so that it can do its job.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. All right. So that's one thing potentially that brains share in common is their color is pink and Silvana's noticing that elephants have a cerebellum just like humans. And Michelle's noticing that human and spider monkey brains look similar. And Priscilla's also noticing that they come in all different shapes. Awesome, wonderful. Okay, so great observations, everyone. I imagine it was really interesting, Elaine, learning about all, and Marli, I imagine that it was really interesting learning about all of these different animal brains as my brain is having an issue at the moment I think getting my words to my mouth, but all right. So at the museum, we use our collections and animal specimens to make observations to learn about animals that are extinct now, so they're no longer alive anymore, but also some animals that we can still find on our planet.
And we can look at the animal's features to learn more about these characteristics. But Elaine and Marli, listening to this book made me wonder how other scientists learn about animals and their brains too. So Elaine, how do you as a brain scientist learn about animals? And more specifically, how do you as a brain scientist learn about their brains?
Elaine Miller:
That's such a good question. Okay. Well, my questions about brains are sparked by studies and how animals behave. So when we see an animal do an interesting behavior, we can stop and ask how does that animal do that? And as a brain scientist, I work with brains from animals that have passed away and I study their anatomy or how they look to see how their behavior could be linked to special areas in the brain. So if you recall, we just learned that different animals have different-looking brains.
And we know this because scientists all over the world study brains from all kinds of species like whales, mice, monkeys, fish, birds, bees, and of course humans. And so these scientists look at differences in brain sizes and shapes, their wrinkly patterns, how big, small, different areas are. And some scientists look at how different areas are connected to one another. Other scientists actually slice the brains open and they look at them under a microscope.
Katie Derloshon:
Wow. All right. So learning about brains sounds really interesting, and it sounds like a cool way to learn about animals too. So just like some of our viewers noticed at home that they're pink or that they come in different sizes or different shapes, or that they have similar parts of the brain, scientists can look at brains and look and notice these differences too. But Elaine, why are brains so different in different animals?
Elaine Miller:
All species have differences compared to one another, even looking from the outside. So animals like dolphins have long sleek bodies and a pointy face and fins, and this helps them swim fast. But then birds have really light bones and they have wings with feathers. And so just like these special traits, the brain is unique in every species to help make behaviors that help the animal in their environment. So if you recall, for example, from the book, spider monkeys live in trees and have a special tail that curls around branches. And over time as a spider monkey tail has become better and better at curling around branches, the brain has become better and better at controlling the tail to make that behavior. And so if you want to check out more on spider monkeys, you can actually see a spider monkey in the Bones Hall at the National Museum of Natural History, and you can find the howler monkey, who also has the same kind of curling tail, in the Hall of Mammals. And so even though the museum is closed, you can actually see these animals on the virtual tour of the museum.
Katie Derloshon:
Wow. Okay. So the monkey has adapted over time to have this tail that's better able to curl around branches?
Elaine Miller:
Yes.
Katie Derloshon:
And the brain has also adapted to be able to control this tail better?
Elaine Miller:
Yes, exactly.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. All right. So Marli, with all of these animal brains being so different and each of the animals, can you tell us a little bit more about how you created the brain art for this book? They're also different. How did you learn about these brains to know what even to draw?
Marli Richmond:
Sure. Yes. So just like Elaine, I did some research of my own before I created the drawings in this book. So I looked at hundreds of photos of each animal and made observations about what they look like, what their behavior is like, and how they move in their environment. And I paired this research information with my imagination, and I made some of the animals look really fun or really silly, like the mouse with extra huge whiskers or the monkey with super long tail. And to draw the brains, I worked with Elaine to look over scientific diagrams and photos and create really detailed illustrations that looked like what you would see in real life. There were tons of drawings that we made in different shapes and sizes.
Katie Derloshon:
Neat. Okay. So that's interesting to hear that you worked together to look at these scientific drawings of these brains too, to both learn about the brains. And it sounds like drawing and sketching is another way of better understanding how these brains are structured. But Elaine and Marli, how else did you guys work together to create this book?
Marli Richmond:
Well, it started with sketching. You just get to be free and you sketch. Elaine would send me diagrams and photos that I would work off of, and I would send them back to her once I had finished a drawing. And we would go back and forth like this for days, sometimes hours. And it took us nine months to make this book. We put a lot of time and energy into it, but it was so fun for the whole time.
Katie Derloshon:
Wonderful. All right. So I have one last question before we start our drawings. How can studying animal brains help us to understand animals better?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, that is such an excellent question. So the brain is the command center of our bodies because brains actually take in information around us, and they make us think and feel and move. And so brain science allows us to understand how animals experience their surroundings and how special behaviors are made that help them survive and have babies in their environment. So just thinking back on the book, the chickadee for example, is really good at finding stashed seeds. And brain science has shown us that the chickadee can do this with its big hippocampus that has extra neurons. And you know what? You can actually see a chickadee in the Birds of DC exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History. It's also on the virtual tour, as you can see.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. Wonderful. So thank you again, Elaine and Marli, for sharing with us a little bit more how scientists and illustrators like you both learn about and then share knowledge with about these animals and their amazing brains. And hopefully this book will spark an interest in our viewers to learn more about other animals and their brains too, that we didn't mention in the book. But while we're on the topic of the book, we have lots of people in the Q&A, Marli and Elaine, that are wondering where or how they could get your book. So where or how might viewers be able to get your book?
Elaine Miller:
Well, first of all, thank you for asking that. That's really sweet. So at this point, we're actually working on getting it published so it can be distributed. So at this point, it's not available, but it should be soon.
Katie Derloshon:
Ooh. All right. Well, I know I certainly can't wait to get a copy of it for my son's library too, so can't wait for that. All right. Well, families, we just learned how scientists and artists like Marli and Elaine can work together to teach others about brains. And we learned how art can help us to be better able to understand differences in animal brains too. So let's go ahead and practice our scientific drawing skills and create two of these drawings as well, right alongside Marli. But before we begin, please remember to have your supplies ready to go. So you'll need a couple pieces of paper, at least one per artist, a pencil, and then some crayons or markers too if you have them available.
All right. So now as Marli mentioned earlier, in order to draw something, you have to be able to study and examine it. So art can be a way for us all to be able to look closer at things as well as be a way for us to be able to see and use drawings, or to be able to see things and learn about the world around us in a creative way. Now, we can also use the drawings to teach others too, just like Marli did in her book. So Marli, I think we're ready to start. What will be we be drawing first, and how do we get started?
Marli Richmond:
Awesome. Sure. So can everybody see the big pink brain on the screen?
Katie Derloshon:
Yes.
Marli Richmond:
Awesome.
Katie Derloshon:
Got it.
Marli Richmond:
Let's go ahead and begin. First we're going to draw a mouse brain. So think back to the book. We're going to draw the brain from the book, the mouse brain. And you're going to need one sheet of paper. And the first thing you're going to do is fold this paper in half, just like you would a book. Fold it in half.
Katie Derloshon:
Got it.
Marli Richmond:
And we're going to draw a mouse brain on one side of the paper. And we're going to draw a brain later, it's going to be the shark brain on the other side. So when you're finished, your paper will look like this, and you'll be able to compare the two brains that you create. So that's why we're folding it. All right, we ready to start?
Katie Derloshon:
I think we're ready to start.
Marli Richmond:
Okay. Let's start the mouse brain by drawing a heart in the center of your paper on one of those sides. We're going to draw a heart. And later we're going to be flipping the drawing so that it looks like the preview of the final mouse brain that you can see in the bottom left corner of your screen. So get started on your heart. And mouse brains are cool. They're much smaller than human brains. Human brains weigh around three pounds. Elaine, can you tell us how much your mouse brain weighs?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, yeah, sure. So mouse brains are much smaller than human brains. So mouse brains weigh a little bit less than half a gram.
Marli Richmond:
So tiny.
Elaine Miller:
They're very tiny.
Katie Derloshon:
Marli, Is it about this? Is this okay size-wise?
Marli Richmond:
Oh, that's perfect, Katie. That it a perfect size. You want to have a lot of space on top and on the bottom, so that's perfect.
Katie Derloshon:
And Marli, we have a question from Nitia in our Q&A. We're going to be drawing and comparing two different brains today, right?
Marli Richmond:
Correct. Two different brains.
Katie Derloshon:
All right. And the first one is the mouse, right?
Marli Richmond:
First one is the mouse. This is the mouse screen.
Katie Derloshon:
Got it. I'm ready to go.
Marli Richmond:
All right. So the mouse brain, like a lot of brains has two major parts. We're going to draw a line right down the middle of the heart, and that's going to define the two halves of the mouse brain. Draw your line right down the center.
Katie Derloshon:
While we're drawing that, Elaine, you had mentioned that the mouse brain is a certain amount of grams, but what would that be like in terms of food or something that I might be familiar with?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, yeah. A mouse brain being about half a gram is maybe several grains of rice or maybe half a paperclip.
Katie Derloshon:
All right. Okay. So like a little pinch of rice or a paperclip in the hand.
Elaine Miller:
Yep.
Katie Derloshon:
Okay. For weight-wise, so tiny.
Marli Richmond:
So tiny. All right. Next we're going to draw the olfactory bulbs. These are bulbs that allow animals to smell things. The olfactory bulbs are on the front of the brain right at the tip of the heart. So you're going to add two semicircles, and you'll place them right at the tip of your heart, and you're going to connect those semicircles with a line right down the middle.
Katie Derloshon:
So I'm just making that line that was in my heart a little bit longer to cut that circle too.
Marli Richmond:
Exactly. Exactly.
Katie Derloshon:
Cool.
Marli Richmond:
And from here, once you've drawn your olfactory bulbs, you want to use your eraser and you erase those lines underneath from where you drew the original heart, so that you only see the olfactory bulb shape.
Katie Derloshon:
So what I did accidentally Marli, is I erased all of it, but now I can just draw the line down the middle again, right?
Marli Richmond:
Yeah, exactly. You can just draw one more line, and then you're back. You're back. You're caught up.
Katie Derloshon:
Okay.
Marli Richmond:
Cool. From here, we're going to draw the midbrain. The midbrain is a relay station for the brain. It helps us pay attention to what we see and what we hear. And it does the same in the mouse. The midbrain sits right on top of the parts of the brain we've already drawn, so it also looks like a little heart. So start with one curved line that goes to the left, and then another that goes to the right and make a heart that's peeking out over top of the big heart.
Katie Derloshon:
Aw. All right. I've got my little heart.
Marli Richmond:
Awesome.
Katie Derloshon:
What's next?
Marli Richmond:
Great. So now we're going to draw a line that goes right down the middle of the midbrain, just like we did with the big heart. And then we're also going to draw a semicircle within the mid brain. So you've got a line going down the little heart, and then a semicircle within that little heart.
Katie Derloshon:
So it's like we just drew the line down the middle and then drew a little rainbow.
Marli Richmond:
Exactly. Exactly. Cool. Next, we're going to draw the cerebellum. You're going to make a bigger semicircle this time on top of your drawing, and it connects the two halves of the big heart that you made. And it's going to look like your mouse brain is wearing a round hat. So Elaine, do humans also have a cerebellum like the one we're drawing now?
Elaine Miller:
Yes. Humans also have a cerebellum. And a really fun fact about cerebellums is they have tons and tons of neurons, more than the other brain areas. So they're really cool.
Katie Derloshon:
And what's a neuron again?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, that's a great question. So a neuron is a cell. So we have cells that make up our bodies, but neurons are special cells in our brains and spinal cord, and they're actually throughout our bodies.
Katie Derloshon:
Ooh. All right.
Marli Richmond:
All right. So from here we're going to add a semicircle right above the mid brain. So another semicircle. This one's really tiny.
Katie Derloshon:
It's like a little rainbow over the mini heart.
Marli Richmond:
Yes And we're going to keep adding to that rainbow as well. So the mouse brain isn't wrinkly as a human brain is, but it still has a lot of folds and grooves. So we're going to draw two lines that start at the top of the heart and reach up to the top of the cerebellum. Okay. Should almost continue that rainbow that we talked about. Should start to look like a rainbow on your paper.
Katie Derloshon:
All right.
Marli Richmond:
Cool. And we're going to repeat that same step now. So this time make your lines even smaller. So two more curved lines that are even smaller, and they're going to meet on top of that semicircle that we made, the little one.
Katie Derloshon:
You're right. There are lots of rainbow shapes inside this brain.
Marli Richmond:
Lots of folds and grooves going on. How are your brains looking so far, Katie and Elaine?
Katie Derloshon:
Here's what I got.
Marli Richmond:
Oh my gosh. That's so good. Oh, that looks awesome. Okay. I can't wait to see everybody's brains. These look really good. Awesome. Okay, let's keep going. So from here, what we're going to do is we're going to flip our paper before we draw the rest of our brain. So just flip it to the side so that now your brain is pointing up and the heart is upside down.
Katie Derloshon:
Now it matches to the brain picture in the bottom.
Marli Richmond:
Exactly. Should just look just like the picture in the bottom. Okay, we got it flipped. And this is how our brain would look if we were looking down on a mouse's head from above. From here, we're going to draw the brain stem. The brain stem is like a cord that connects the brain to other parts of the body. So we're going to start with a straight line, single straight line that comes down from the bottom of our brain. And imagine that it lines up with the center line we have going through our heart and through our olfactory bulbs. And then you'll also add two outer lines around this one, and it's going to start to look like a cord.
Katie Derloshon:
All right.
Marli Richmond:
All right. It is time to add some color. So grab one of your crayons or markers or colored pencils. You can use red or pink to outline. Yes, Katie. Exactly. So grab your pink and we're going to outline our brain. And then we're also going to color it in light pink. So you want your whole brain to be pink, because earlier we learned that brains are pink because they have blood running through them. That blood brings oxygen and nutrients to the brains so that they work.
Katie Derloshon:
All right. While we were drawing, we had some questions coming in. There were a few questions about the cerebellum. So Finn is asking, what does the cerebellum do? Does it store memory? And Nitia is wondering, does the cerebellum control or help with balance? So what does the cerebellum do?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, that's a good question. So the cerebellum is most famous for its role in coordinating movements and balance, but we actually suspect that it has other roles in cognition, so in the way we think, and maybe even language. But that is a very interesting area of investigation that scientists are working on right now.
Katie Derloshon:
All right. So there might be some more questions that we still need to answer about the cerebellum.
Elaine Miller:
Exactly, Yes, definitely.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah. Great thinking our viewers at home. Already thinking up of those questions that brain scientists are also wondering too. All right. So Marli, once we've got it colored, and if we don't have a chance to color it all right now, we can always finish the pink afterward, right?
Marli Richmond:
Absolutely. You can start a little bit of it now, then you can continue to work on your brain later, and maybe you'll even draw some more brains and add to this one. So from here, we're going to label the important areas. We've got to remember what the brain does. So we're going to start with the olfactory bulbs. Remember, these are the bulbs in the brain that animals use when they use their sense of smell. So these are at the top of the brain, olfactory bulbs.
Katie Derloshon:
Do humans have these, too?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, yeah. So humans definitely have olfactory bulbs, but the human olfactory bulbs are really tiny, and they're underneath the brain. So we actually don't see them unless we pick up a human brain and we flip it upside down.
Marli Richmond:
Ooh. All right. Next is the cerebrum. The cerebrum is the large area of the mouse brain that we drew when we drew that original heart shape.
Katie Derloshon:
And it's the whole heart shape.
Marli Richmond:
The whole heart shape, exactly.
Katie Derloshon:
All right.
Marli Richmond:
The cerebellum is next. The cerebellum is the motor center of the brain. That's what we were just talking about. And it helps us move our bodies. It helps the mice move their bodies.
Katie Derloshon:
And it looks like you're pointing to one of the rainbowy parts that we drew.
Marli Richmond:
Yeah, it's actually all of the rainbow parts. So the big semicircle that's on the bottom of the big heart, the cerebellum is all of that. You can draw a line from anywhere. Cool. Now, this is the last area. We learned in the book that mice move around their surroundings with their sense of touch and their whiskers. And to do this, they use a special part of their brain called the barrel cortex. So label the barrel cortex. We actually have barrel cortex on both sides of our brain. And so maybe you can use a second color and draw two round shapes to remind yourself where they are, and then draw a line from there. So we have the barrel cortex on both sides of the cerebrum.
Katie Derloshon:
So the mouse has the barrel cortex on both sides. Do humans have that too?
Elaine Miller:
So humans don't have a barrel cortex, because humans don't have whiskers. If we had whiskers, maybe we would have a barrel cortex, but we have a similar area of the brain that's like our sense of touch.
Katie Derloshon:
Ah, interesting. Interesting. Okay. Thank you so much for helping.
Marli Richmond:
So you're all artists now, you've drawn the mouse brain. Katie and Elaine, can you show me what you did, what your drawings look like?
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah.
Marli Richmond:
Oh my gosh, that is so good. I love all the colors. I see the barrel cortex on both of your brains. Those look awesome.
Katie Derloshon:
Wonderful. Now, Marli, we have a question in the Q&A are potentially with some of our participants that might have forgotten or might not have had a chance to label all of these parts. Would it be okay if I typed in our email the parts that we labeled when I send a post-program email out just so that they can know the spelling of these words and such?
Marli Richmond:
Absolutely. We want you to have your brains labeled, so we'll definitely get that to you.
Katie Derloshon:
All right, Wonderful. Awesome. Okay, so thank you, Marli for helping us learn how to draw the mouse brain. And we learned some key features of the mouse brain too. And now, Marli, you're going to guide us through another animal brain, and then we can compare and contrast the mouse brain with the other animal too. So what's the next animal?
Marli Richmond:
Exactly. So the next animal is a shark brain. Remember the shark from the book, and we're going to use our same piece of paper. Wherever you drew the mouse brain, you're going to use the other side and you're going to draw your shark brain. And that way you're going to be able to compare how the brains look similar and how they look different later. All right. We ready?
Katie Derloshon:
Ready.
Marli Richmond:
Start with an oval in the center of your paper. And remember, we've got another preview of the final shark brain in the bottom left corner that you can look at. So start with that big oval; and something cool about shark brains —they look a lot different from human brains and a lot different from mouse brains. Elaine, can you tell us one thing that you like about shark brains?
Elaine Miller:
Yeah, so I think shark brains are just so funny looking with their Y shape. And I think my favorite part about the shark brain is their big olfactory stalks with the big olfactory bulbs on top.
Katie Derloshon:
Michelle's asking, "How big is a shark brain?"
Elaine Miller:
Oh, that's a good question. Well, so the shark brain that we're drawing is a silky shark brain. And this is modeled after a shark that was about 200 pounds, and its brain was 50 grams. But there's a lot of shark species and their brain sizes vary.
Katie Derloshon:
So when you say 50 grams, in comparison would that be one orange or smaller than an orange?
Elaine Miller:
That would be smaller than an orange. That would be like 50 paperclips if we're going back to our paperclip analogy.
Katie Derloshon:
Wow. So their brain does not weigh a lot.
Elaine Miller:
No, they're relatively small. But it works for the shark.
Katie Derloshon:
It works for the shark. Now Marli, will we have to flip our drawing this time like we did for the mouse?
Marli Richmond:
Nope. No flipping this time. You're going to stay straight up.
Katie Derloshon:
All right, sounds good.
Marli Richmond:
We've drawn our cerebrum, and now we're going to draw the cerebellum. So you're going to add a second oval right beside the first one. And the first oval was more rounded, and the second one is going to be more long, so less round and more long instead.
Katie Derloshon:
Looks like two rocks on top of each other.
Marli Richmond:
It does, like two rocks balancing.
Katie Derloshon:
All right. What's next?
Marli Richmond:
From here, we're going to make two rounded lines on either side of our second oval. These lines are almost going to look like semicircles. What we're drawing here is actually the vision area in the shark brain.
Katie Derloshon:
Cool.
Marli Richmond:
Yeah.
Katie Derloshon:
All right.
Marli Richmond:
Next we're going to add another oval. And this one should be much smaller than the other two ovals you've drawn so far. So make it really small and it's almost going to look like it's peeking out of the cerebellum. Cool. All right. So the next step will seem familiar. We're going to make another two rounded lines around that last oval shape, one on the left and one on the right. They're super easy lines, very quick.
Katie Derloshon:
I'm noticing what we do on one side, we're going to do it to the other.
Marli Richmond:
Exactly. We're going to do a whole lot of things on one side, and then repeat it on the other side. So you're going to repeat that last step again, and you're going to make a second set of lines that wrap around what you just drew. That looks like a rainbow too, if you think back to our mouse brain, it's just shaped a little differently. And together these lines and ovals, they form a really cool part of the shark brain called the octavolateralis area. And Elaine, would you like to tell us what this area does?
Elaine Miller:
Yeah. So the octavolateralis area, it is the part of the brain that receives all those tiny little electric signals from the fish body so that the shark knows where to find fishes to eat.
Marli Richmond:
Ooh.
Katie Derloshon:
Wonderful. All right. What's next?
Marli Richmond:
All right. So we're going to continue our drawing by adding two more curved lines to the bottom half of the cerebellum. These lines almost look like mini butterfly wings.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah, it reminds me of an insect sitting there.
Marli Richmond:
Right. It does look like an insect.
Katie Derloshon:
All right.
Marli Richmond:
Cool. Next we're going to draw the brain stem. We drew a brain stem in the mouse brain as well, so it's going to be very similar. It's a part of brain that connects the brain with the rest of the body. And you're going to start with a single line that comes down from the bottom of your brain, and then two other lines around it.
Katie Derloshon:
Wonderful.
Marli Richmond:
All right.
Katie Derloshon:
That's one thing I noticed, Marli, is they both have that brain stem shape.
Marli Richmond:
They do both have a brain stem shape. They actually have a lot in common, which I think everyone will see very soon. The next part is really fun. Imagine that the cerebrum of our shark brain is actually the head of the insect that we were talking about. And you're going to create two long curved lines that go to the right and left. And these look like antenna.
Katie Derloshon:
All right.
Marli Richmond:
And we're almost finished. So from here we're going to add a peanut shape to each of the antenna structures that we just drew. And these are called the olfactory bulbs, so that should sound very familiar. These are what allow animals to smell. And sharks, of course, use their sense of smell in the water to find food.
Katie Derloshon:
Very cool.
Marli Richmond:
So two peanut shapes, and then we'll move on and we will add some color. So just like we did with a mouse brain, you can start outlining your brain and a red or a pink color. And then you're also going to start filling it in with the pink.
Katie Derloshon:
All right. Well, while we're coloring our brains, we have some questions about drawing. And people are making some observations about the shark brain too. So first, let's answer this or ask this question from Sophie. Marli, Sophie's wondering, "When you're doing your drawings for your book, do you start by drawing on paper or you start by using a computer?"
Marli Richmond:
So I actually do all of my artwork digitally. I use an iPad and an Apple pencil, and it's really similar to using paper. I use a pencil setting on my iPad. And I get really messy at first, and I just let myself warm up, and then I'll get more and more specific as I know what I'm supposed to be drawing. So it's really about just having fun and using the pencil however I want to in the beginning.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. Thank you for sharing. And we have lots of viewers that are making that observation too, that this does look like a bug.
Marli Richmond:
Yes. What kind of bug does it look like?
Katie Derloshon:
To me, it looks like a little cricket. I don't know. I have crickets often because I have a pet gecko. And so crickets are very frequent into my house.
Marli Richmond:
I see the cricket. I think it grasshopper, cricket, something like that with the antenna.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah. And Ed says it looks like an ant, so does Nitia. Nitia says it looks like an ant too. Awesome. All right. So what's next for our drawing?
Marli Richmond:
All right. Now it's time to label, just like we did with the mouse brain. And our first label is also going to be the olfactory bulbs. So we just drew these. And again, this is what sharks and other animals use when they use their sense of smell. Next is the cerebrum. The cerebrum is that large area of the sharp brain that we drew with the first oval.
Katie Derloshon:
That first big oval that we made.
Marli Richmond:
Yes. First big round oval.
Katie Derloshon:
Okay.
Marli Richmond:
And then the cerebellum is next. And that is the motor center of the brain that helps the shark move its body, move around in the water.
Katie Derloshon:
All right.
Marli Richmond:
And the final area we're going to label is the octavolateralis area. So Elaine told us earlier that sharks use this area to hunt for fish. They have bubbles on their faces that are connected to the octavolateralis area. And using this area, they can sense those tiny, tiny electric currents in another fish's body.
Katie Derloshon:
Ooh, octavolateralis.
Marli Richmond:
Octavolaterails. Yes.
Katie Derloshon:
Octavolateralis okay. Reminds me of octopus. Does that "oct" at the beginning have anything to do with eight as well, like it does for octopus?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, that's a good question. I'm not sure about that, but that's a very good question.
Marli Richmond:
Good question.
Katie Derloshon:
That's how I was thinking of how to pronounce it like octopus.
Marli Richmond:
Yeah. All right. And that's it. So you've now drawn two completely different brains. They both have unique parts and functions, but they also have some similarities. So what do we all think? How do they look?
Katie Derloshon:
This is great. I imagine that theirs look great too, but here's mine. So I've got my parts labeled there, and yeah, my mouse brain. Elaine, how does yours look?
Elaine Miller:
So this is my shark brain.
Marli Richmond:
Wow. So awesome.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah.
Marli Richmond:
These are so great, both of you. Awesome. I can't wait to see the ones that people are drawing at home too.
Katie Derloshon:
Sharon in the Q&A is saying that Marli's drawings look like a person saying, "Yippee! [inaudible 00:51:23] super excited." Awesome. Marli, so we've got a question for our participants to think about their brains that they just drew. Would you mind sharing again, your side by side in case anybody needed to finish their drawing or add any of those extra labels?
Marli Richmond:
Absolutely.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. That is perfect. Okay. Thank you. All right. So excellent job. I love this. This was so much fun. Thank you so much, Marli. And looking at these brains, wow, you can really see that while they're similar, they have similar parts, they're still really, really different. And earlier we learned that different animals have different needs to survive based on where they live and what they need to do to survive. And these two brains that we just drew came from two very different animals.
They even live in two different places, so they're going to have different needs. And drawing can help us to really slow down and notice details that we might have overlooked before. And it really can help us to learn about and think about what's the same or what's different between these two brains that we just drew, or anything that we're drawing. So families at home, share with us in the Q&A some of those things that you noticed about the mouse brain or the shark brain that were either the same or that were different. All right. I know for me, for one, they both have similar parts. So they both have the olfactory bulbs. I didn't know that the shark would have olfactory bulbs. I didn't know you could smell in the water.
Marli Richmond:
I didn't either until I worked with Elaine.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah, yeah. It's pretty cool. All right. So we're noticing that they are both pink again. We definitely noticed that earlier too. We are noticing too, that they both have those olfactory bulbs, and we're noticing that these brains are symmetrical. Are all brains symmetrical, Elaine or Marli?
Elaine Miller:
That's a good question. I've never come across a brain that's asymmetrical. So I would say yes.
Katie Derloshon:
And what does symmetrical mean again?
Elaine Miller:
So symmetrical means that they look the same on the right side and the left side.
Katie Derloshon:
Oh, okay. So it's like how when we were talking about how everything we did on the left side, we also did on the right side. Awesome. Cool. Nitia is also noticing that they both have the cerebrum, and we're noticing that mice don't have that octavolateralis area. Do they have an octavolateralis area? Do mice have that?
Elaine Miller:
No.
Katie Derloshon:
No?
Elaine Miller:
No. They don't have an octavolateralis area because they don't sense little tiny electric currents from other animals. So they don't need that.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. Wonderful. Well, thank you for sharing some of those things that you've noticed, families, that were the same and that were different. And now you can even share your drawings with others to teach them a little bit about these brains too.
And so friends, our time is up for our activity, and we hope that you enjoyed learning about these different animals and their brains with Elaine and Marli through both the book and through the drawings. And we're going to be able to stay on after our program here for about five or so minutes to answer any of those last-minute questions that you might have, or some of those questions we didn't get through today's program, but before we end, I want to give a special things again to Elaine and Marli for sharing their knowledge both about brains and art. It was so wonderful to experience this art and science connection together. And now our families at home have learned about and practiced some of their scientific drawing skills so they can use these drawings to teach others too.
Elaine Miller:
Great. Thank you for joining us.
Marli Richmond:
Thank you for drawing with us. So good to have you.
Katie Derloshon:
Thank you again both for being here. But before we get to our question-and-answer time with Elaine and Marli, I have a message to the caregivers that are here with our program. So after our program ends today, either today or later on in this week or early next week, you'll get a post-program email. And inside that email, there'll be a survey for caregivers to fill out. And we're hoping that you might be able to spend a few minutes filling out that survey because we're super excited to hear your feedback so that we can continue to build and grow our online programming together.
And we also, like we were saying earlier, we really want to see those brain drawings that you all were working so hard on together today as a family. So please send those to our family programs email so that we can see them and we can share them too, with Elaine and Marli, because I'm sure they would be excited to see those brain drawings too. Now, for those of you who do have to leave right now, thank you though again so much for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you online again soon. But for those who can stay, let's go ahead and launch right into our Q&A. All right, Elaine and Marli, we have a few questions here. So before we sign off, let's try and answer a few. So Frederick is wondering how different are brains between different species of sharks? So do all shark brains look the same? Are they all the same? Are they different?
Elaine Miller:
That's a really good question, because all sharks are sharks. So we expect their brains to look pretty similar. And they do. So for example, the shark that we drew, it had these really, really long stalks on the olfactory track. Some have really, really short track, and they have big bulky olfactory bulbs. And some are smaller, some have a way smaller cerebrum, and some have a bigger cerebrum. So the silky shark we drew has a really big cerebrum compared to other sharks. So they look generally similar, but they definitely have differences.
Katie Derloshon:
Cool. Thank you for sharing. Okay. Now, several viewers have also asked about the smallest and the largest brains in the world. So do we know? Do we know which ones are potentially the smallest brains and which animal has the largest brain?
Elaine Miller:
Yeah, that's a really good question. So the biggest brain comes from a whale, and I think it's nine kilograms.
Katie Derloshon:
So how big, what would that be related to potentially?
Elaine Miller:
Nine kilograms, that's almost about 20 pounds. That would be like my cat Sea Bass, who's very big. That would be a very big, fat cat.
Katie Derloshon:
About how paperclips do you think that would be?
Elaine Miller:
A lot of paper clips.
Katie Derloshon:
A lot of paperclips, probably a whole box of them, not just a little box, but a bunch, enough paper clips for the size of the cat. Wonderful. Now what about the smallest brain?
Elaine Miller:
That's a great question. So the smallest brain, I think is just a tiny fraction of a gram. And I think that comes from species of tiny vole. But I would want to double-check that. A vole is a tiny, little, furry mammal.
Katie Derloshon:
Ah, all right. So that's even smaller than the mouse's brain.
Elaine Miller:
Yeah, they're tiny.
Katie Derloshon:
Wonderful. Okay, so here we go. Let's see. Here's another question. We were noticing that some brains were smooth and some were wrinkly in the story. What textures do brains have? Are they all wrinkly? Are they all smooth, slimy?
Elaine Miller:
Yeah. So brains are squishy and they're really soft, and some are wrinkly and some are not. So the mouse brain is completely smooth. It doesn't even have one wrinkle. But then if you look at a dolphin's brain, it has so many wrinkles, more wrinkles than a human. So it's really, really, really wrinkly.
Katie Derloshon:
Why do some have more wrinkles than others?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, that's a good question that scientists are trying to understand. But we do know that if you have more wrinkles, you can pack more neurons in your brain and potentially you have more areas to do different things. But that's a really great question. I think scientists are still working on that.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. Hey, we might have some future brain scientists out here in our family audience, so hopefully maybe one day soon we'll be able to figure out that answer together. And what about the brain and what it's connected to? So our brain, we know is in our head, as humans, but what is it connected to? Is it connected to anything?
Elaine Miller:
Yeah. So we have our brains in our head, and then like we drew, there's that brain stem. And that brain stem actually connects our brain to our spinal cord. And then down our back we have a spinal cord, and off our spinal cord, we have all these nerves, and those nerves help us control our bodies.
Katie Derloshon:
Wonderful. And it says that someone in the Q&A has said that they heard that reptiles don't have a part of their brain with emotions. Is that true? And if so, why not?
Elaine Miller:
That reptiles don't have a part of the brain that helps with emotions?
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah. Do they have that?
Elaine Miller:
That's a really good question. And since I don't study reptile brains very much, that is a question I would take to a friend who is a reptile brain specialist so that they can help me.
Katie Derloshon:
Yes. Like you had said, you study primate brains, right? I'm sure that there are probably other scientists out there, like you said, that study specifically reptile brains.
Elaine Miller:
Exactly. Yeah. So they would know everything. And that's a great way to show how scientists collaborate. So when I don't know something, I go to a friend who's a scientist that can help me.
Katie Derloshon:
Wonderful. All right. We have two more questions. One is about your cat.
Elaine Miller:
Okay.
Katie Derloshon:
And also we talked about bugs. So we're wondering, well, I guess this is two-in-one, and then we have our wrap-up question. Do bugs have brains?
Elaine Miller:
Yes. Bees have brains actually. Lots of animals have brains, but not all animals have brains. Some animals just have little clusters of neurons, but they're not quite brains. But even bees have brains. Yeah, that's a great question.
Katie Derloshon:
Okay. And another one just popped up too. So we have a question about your cat. We're wondering what do cat brains look like?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, that's a good question. So cats are carnivores and carnivore brains look different than primate brains or shark brains. So they actually have one big wrinkle that runs down the center like this. And then they have a few more wrinkles. So they're a little bit wrinkly, but they're not super wrinkly like a human's brain. And depending on the cat, the cat brain is maybe about this big, if you can see.
Katie Derloshon:
So not too big, but not as small as the mouse's brain.
Elaine Miller:
No, no. Cat brains are bigger than mouse brains, for sure. Yes.
Katie Derloshon:
All right. So I've got one more question and then I have a wrap-up question for both of you that I'm curious to know about. All right. So do brains evolve independently among different animal groups?
Elaine Miller:
Oh, so that's an evolution question. That's a great question. So as you saw, all animal brains have this similar makeup that we saw in the book, but as animals change over time, down their own lineages, they actually change their brains to suit their needs. That's how we know the monkey brain that we were talking about, it's changed its brain just a little bit to be really good at curling its tail. So brains are very similar in many ways, but then each species' brain is just a little bit different.
Katie Derloshon:
Wonderful. Now we've had some really amazing questions that have came in and unfortunately we're not going to be able to get to all of them, but we do have one more question to ask to you both Elaine and Marli. In terms of your book, what was your favorite brain to learn about and to learn about to draw? What was the most interesting brain for you to research for your book?
Marli Richmond:
I love the chickadee brain because number one, it looks really silly. It's really round and it was so cool, so interesting to look at. And I also like thinking about how the chickadee uses their memory to make sure that they have food later. I think that's so awesome.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah, it is pretty cool. What about you, Elaine?
Elaine Miller:
So for me, I like all the brains, so it's hard to choose one. But I think the shark brain was so exciting because it's unbelievable to me that they can sense these tiny electric currents, that they can do something so amazing and their brains are not so big. They do so much with such a little brain. It's amazing. So I really like the shark brain plus it looks really wacky.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah, it definitely looks unique. Well I don't really don't know that much about animal brains. So when I think of a brain, I immediately go to what a human brain looks like. So it was really interesting to learn that brains don't all look like that. All right. Well thank you both again so much for joining us. And families, Thank you for joining us and staying on a little bit longer for our Q and A. We are so happy that you are able to be here to join us today.
And thank you families for tuning in and sending in those questions. Again, I'm so sorry we couldn't get to all of them, but we hope that we might be able to answer a few more and maybe put some extra answers in that post-program email I was talking with you about earlier. And we really enjoy having you and learning about brains together alongside you. And we hope that you'll be able to continue learning alongside us for future programs too.
So Gale and I hope to see you next month where we're going to continue exploring nature or we're going to go and explore nature in our neighborhoods to see what we can find. And we're going to learn about different ways to share what we have found in nature with others in our community too. And we also have our Historia Natural en Casa program next Sunday as well where we'll have JP joining us to talk all about microscopy. So it's really exciting. We hope that you will be here to join us all for that. And one more thank you to everyone for joining us and we look forward to hopefully seeing you again in the future here with us here at Natural History At Home.
Elaine Miller:
Thank you so much. Bye everybody.
