GTP at the 2026 Atlanta Regional Brain Bee

The Grady Trauma Project (GTP) was excited to participate in the 2026 Atlanta Regional Brain Bee by hosting an interactive booth showcasing the amygdala—a brain region that detects threat, triggers fear responses, and is commonly hyperactive in individuals with trauma exposure or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). GTP investigator, Dr. Sanne van Rooij, and Neuroscience Ph.D. students, Patlapa Sompolpong and Trinidi Prochaska, represented the GTP at the Atlanta Regional Brain Bee which was held at Emory University this March!

More About the Brain Bee Competition

 Each year, teenage students representing middle and high schools in their states participate in local Brain Bee competitions. In these “Spelling Bee”, elimination-style competitions, students answer questions about the brain and nervous system one by one until a single winner remains. The champion of each Regional Brain Bee is invited to compete in the National Brain Bee, and the champion of the National Brain Bee is sent to the International Brain Bee to represent the USA.

Atlanta, Georgia hosts one of over 70 regional competitions where students are tested on topics such as brain cognition and function, diseases, physiology, and chemistry. The top three finishers of the Atlanta Regional Brain Bee receive monetary prizes and the first-place winner is invited to advance to the USA National Brain Bee. Learn more about the Brain Bee here: https://sites.gsu.edu/brain-bee/

GTP Exhibition Booth Highlighting the Amygdala

The exhibition portion of the ATL Brain Bee provides hands-on and educational activities designed to inspire the next generation of scientists. This year’s theme was “Tour de Brain,” a celebration of the many pathways, discoveries, and innovations within neuroscience.

During the exhibition, the GTP helped to welcome over 70 students and hosted one of 12 engaging booths that explored different brain regions. The GTP booth focused on the amygdala—a small brain structure found within the brain’s temporal lobe. The amygdala helps detect potential threats in the environment and trigger survival responses such as fear or the “fight-or-flight” response. When the amygdala senses threat, such as a loud noise, angry face, or a stressful situation, it signals other brain regions and the body to prepare for action, increasing alertness, releasing stress hormones, and stimulating sweat glands in the skin which increases the skin’s electrical conductivity, called the skin conductance response (SCR).

At the GTP booth, we had an interactive activity where students could visualize and measure their SCR, a common data metric collected in GTP research studies used as a physiological correlate of stress reactivity. To measure their SCRs, students placed a finger clip electrode, or sensor, on the tip of their index and middle fingers, which was connected to an iPad. Utilizing the eSense App (Mindfield Biosystems, Inc., Berlin, Germany), students were able to see their SCR in real time. We allowed students to visualize their “normal” or baseline SCR, then asked them to think about something stressful (e.g., their upcoming written exam as part of the Brain Bee competition), to allow them to see how their SCR changes with stress. Many students were amazed at the real-time measure of their stress response!

We also hosted an “Amygdala Jeopardy” activity where students could answer different questions about the amygdala related to basic facts, function, neural pathways, comparative anatomy, and pathology. Students received a certain number of points for correct answers to questions within the different categories and saw this as a fun opportunity to review their amygdala knowledge and prepare for the competition’s exam. During our time at the ATL Brain Bee, we were also able to inform students and their families about science the GTP conducts and share the GTP’s impact. The excitement and engagement from students who were competing in the ATL Brain Bee truly reflected and strengthened the GTP’s commitment to supporting the next generation of scientists.

We thank the ATL Brain Bee coordinators for allowing the GTP to host an interactive booth to help make this experience fun, educational, and inspiring for everyone. The GTP looks forward to participating in similar events in the future!