Initially, 85 pupils from schools as far afield as Christchurch were expected to compete, but the inclement weather prevented about half from attending.
The challenge included both a team and an individual quiz competition for year 11 pupils, to determine who was the "best brain".
The quiz questions were not typical gems from Trivial Pursuit. Rather, they were on topics such as intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, ageing, sleep, addiction, Alzheimers and stroke.
The event was established in 2007 to encourage secondary school pupils to take an interest in the human brain and neuroscience.
Tharun Sonti, of Riccarton High School in Christchurch, won the individual competition and will now compete at the Australia-New Zealand Brain Bee final in Sydney in January next year. Tharun will be competing for an opportunity to compete at the International Brain Bee in the United States.
Runner-up in the individual competition was Minyan Voon (Riccarton High School) and Lucy Watt (Villa Maria College, Christchurch) was third.
The teams competition was won by Riccarton High School. Kaikorai Valley College was second and Villa Maria College was third.
