Shennendoah Hollsten and her brother, Bo Erik, are fascinated by what's going on underneath their crowns of curly brown hair.
Shennendoah, 12, admits she is hooked on so-called neurotrivia related to both humans and animals.
Nine-year-old Bo Erik said he is obsessed with "cool brain vocabulary."
Not only can he spell "hypothalamus," he knows the almond-sized brain part is located below the thalamus, just above the brainstem, and that it controls metabolic activities, such as body temperature and thirst.
"It's kind of fun to be the teacher for once," said Bo Erik, who, with his sister, cofounded the NeuroKids Foundation. The nonprofit is dedicated to teaching children about the brain.
On a recent afternoon, the brother-sister team sat hunched over laptop computers in their Roseville home's game room – better known as NeuroKids headquarters. Plastic model skulls sat next to study guides, teaching guides, graphic displays, "Braintastic" booklets and other cool educational tools developed by Shennendoah and Bo Erik.
It's all about making a complex subject fun for kids, according to the Hollstens. Bo Erik shared a podcast of a "Pinky and the Brain" cartoon he is considering for their Web site, neurokids.org.
The NeuroKids Foundation has attracted local accolades and statewide attention since its founding early this year. In April, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell visited the Hollstens' school, Stoneridge Elementary, following its first "Week of the Brain." The week involved a drawing and essay contest and a Brain Fair that included optical illusion games and the study of real-life animal brains and brains modeled out of Jell-O and Play-Doh.
Shennendoah and Bo Erik said they initiated the weeklong event to teach brain health and function. They presented O'Connell with a 40-page proposal and a PowerPoint presentation to expand "Week of the Brain" to schools statewide.
"Students of all ages should be encouraged to explore the fascinating world of science, and it is up to our schools to inspire the next generation of scientists," O'Connell said in a recent statement. "We need more of these students to close the scientist gap. I am proud of Shennendoah and Bo Erik for their interest in science and their creativity in pursuing their ideas."
In a thank-you letter to Bo Erik and Shennendoah, O'Connell said that he has forwarded their proposal to his staff members for review.
Outside class, Shennendoah and Bo Erik balance their newfound interests with their old passions. At NeuroKids headquarters, the shelves are filled with chemistry sets and games, science books, Harry Potter novels, LEGOs, stuffed animals and a big-screen television for watching their favorite movies and cartoons.
Bo Erik showed off his Bakugan collection – tiny toy figures activated by magnetic cards. Shennendoah shared her artwork and talked about her pets.
"I would like to study animal brains and find out where their speech comes from," Shennendoah said, explaining that her goal is to discover how to have two-way communication with her bichon frisé, Molly, and two cats, Midnight and Caly.
Bo Erik hopes to someday develop a computer chip that can be implanted in the brain to fix problems. "It might take a while," he said.
So what got the Hollsten kids thinking about the brain? Shannon Hollsten said her children's fascination began with an unusual choice of a bedtime story – "The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language" by author Steven Pinker.
"It was a complicated book for all of us," Shannon Hollsten said. "The author mentioned something about how kids' minds are not fully developed, and my kids got excited and wanted to learn more."
But deeper reasons exist behind the family's exploration of how the brain works. The decision to read a collection of books about the brain was sparked by Bo Erik's struggle with a sensory integration disorder, which causes difficulty with verbal expression.
Bo Erik said he has learned an important lesson that he now shares with other kids.
"Everybody's brain is differently wired – it's not a bad thing," he said.
Bo Erik and Shennendoah's train of thought has lead to appearances on local talk radio and television – and an invitation to attend the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, D.C., this fall.
In their quest to understand the world of neuroscience, Shennendoah and her brother have already interviewed several neurologists, neurosurgeons and directors of scientific institutes and organizations. The interviews are posted for other kids at neurokids.org, where the Hollstens have collected more than $11,000 in donations to further their mission of teaching about the brain.
Shennendoah's latest interview was with Dr. Mitchel S. Berger, chairman of neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco, and director of the Brain Tumor Center at the university.
"She is extremely bright and asked excellent questions," Berger said. "It was such a pleasure to talk with her and to think that one day she could become a neuroscientist researcher or a neurosurgeon or neurologist."
Shennendoah, who will turn 13 in November, plans to work with her friends to launch NeuroTeens. But she has no thoughts of leaving her brother behind.
When asked if they enjoy working together, the brother and sister shared a sly smile.
"Sometimes we get into arguments," Bo Erik said. "But we have fun."
Call The Bee's Lakiesha McGhee, (916) 773-7630.
