Sonia Weiner, Ma’ayanot junior, is the winner of this year’s Walder Science Center Jerusalem Science Contest, in which students mastered concepts in neuroscience and Judaism, and did independent research. Weiner, who won a full scholarship to the Jerusalem College of Technology, researched the effects of alcohol and marijuana on the brain and the halakhic permissibility of their use. Tzivia Major, senior, researched Parkinson’s and its effect on mitzvah observance, and Atara Weil, senior, one of the top five finalists, researched the effects of depression on the brain and the halakhic ramifications of mental illness. Weiner and Weil will be presenting their research in Chicago and in Israel on trips sponsored by the Walder Science Center. The students’ participation was facilitated by Gillian Cofnas, Ma’ayanot science research coordinator.