That interest is NOT a hook, it is part of your story, a part of your application.
Your activities section in the common app will address your ECs. You can also write about your ECs and interests and weave those things together in your personal statement in a way that shows (not tells) the reader who you are…your strengths, your traits, your motivations, etc. But many CA personal statement essays don’t cover ECs, at all. It’s up to you and what you want the reader to know about you via that essay.
What is at the root of your neuroscience passion? Sounds like it’s not the grow kit EC.