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ULTIMATE Resources for Brain Bee from a '25 Finalist
The Brain Bee is a Neuroscience competition. It has some recommended resources on the website, but I'll tell you what's really important based on my experience. Brain Bee is almost entirely memorization based, with very little reasoning and problem solving compared to other competitions. It tests at an intermediate level and does not go into extreme depth, since it is meant to introduce students to neuroscience. See if your state has a Brain Bee competition. Every state's competition will vary in difficulty and content!
A.k.a the only book you really need to do well on the Brain Bee. Essentially every question from state to national level is from this book. Memorize it word for word (it's very short). I would read it at least three times. Even specifics, like numbers or factoids, can be tested.
Neuroscience: Science of the Brain
Superfluous but a pretty easy read. A bit less info than Brain Facts but also a quick read. The only chapter of this you NEED to read for the national competition is chapter 1 (as of 2025) for the experimental design information. I recommend using it to supplement your understanding of Brain Facts
Kandel
If you're reading this book you are doing way too much. Brain Bee does not go this in depth. Try reviewing Brain Facts instead. Once you've mastered this info, you should start preparing for anatomy, histology, and disorders.Â
NEUROANATOMY and NEUROHISTOLOGY RESOURCES
Neuroanatomy/histology is essentially the only part of Brain Bee nationals that does not come from the two books above.Â
Things you NEED to know:
any gross anatomy of brain (visible and locatable on a brain specimen) in any section, both external and internal
cranial nerves
brain blood vessels
types of brain scans and how to interpret them
spinal cord and brainstem sectionsÂ
histology images and TEM (stain type, structure, cell type, aggregate, etc.)
pathological brain scans and histo (e.g. ventricular enlargement, tumors, protein aggregates, white matter hyperintensities, etc.)Â
some white matter tracts in the brain (internal and external capsules, corpus callosum)Â
basic functions of most brain regions
Things you DO NOT NEED to know (as of 2025 Nationals):Â
most functional nuclei locations (e.g. you will not be asked to find the ventral posteromedial thalamus)
anatomy of the eye, inner ear, etc. (beyond Brain Facts)
peripheral nerves (beyond what's in Brain Facts)
skull bones, foramina, etc.
comparative anatomy; all brain specimens are human
Gross anatomy and scans resources:
HeadNeckBrainSpine: an MRI atlas of the brain at sagittal, coronal, and axial slices. I would just memorize all of the parts through this to be prepared for most gross neuroanatomy and MRI structures.Â
This  is basically the same thing but you can also toggle the structures and quiz yourself
Neuroanatomy: A good set of gross neuroanatomy images with labels you can use to quiz yourself. Highly recommend as the images are reflective of what you will see on test day.
Kenhub Neuroanatomy This is a great resource with strucutres clearly labeled in green! Use for flashcards.
Neuroangio - good cerebral blood vessel info, check out Kenhub for anatomy
Spinal Cord Anatomy: Know this, it's free points!
Brain stem and spinal cord slices - know what section of the brain stem looks like what
Neurohistology resources:
VOCABULARY AND MISCELLANEOUS RESOURCES
List of Disorders: The actual list changes year to year, but you should know these. I recommend going down the list and doing a quick Wikipedia search.Â
FLASHCARDS ARE YOUR FRIEND!
Some general content review material:
Neuroscience Online - Content and nice visuals, good review
Vermont Brain Bee Study Guide - mostly helpful if you're in Vermont lol
MY (NOT SO) SECRET WEAPON
Neurochallenged Youtube: has great two-minute neuroscience videos. Very condensed info. Just watch them all on double speed, it will only take a day. Excellent review!!
NEUROANATOMY IMAGES I LIKE!
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