Journal Of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education[JOURNAL]
Sun
200 papers
Revisiting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commitments and Instituting Lasting Actionable Changes in the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience.
Neuwirth LS, Quadros-Mennella PS, Kang YY … +5 more , Linden ML, Nahmani M, Abrams M, Leussis MP, Illig KR
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540951
Abstract loading — click title to view on PubMed.
: A Neurotransmission Board Game.
Kaur AW
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540950
Game-based learning offers a fun and engaging pedagogical approach that can promote greater understanding of course content. This article describes the development, use, and evaluation of a board game designed to test st...
Game-based learning offers a fun and engaging pedagogical approach that can promote greater understanding of course content. This article describes the development, use, and evaluation of a board game designed to test students' understanding of core concepts covered in introductory neuroscience courses-action potentials and synaptic transmission. During the game, students work collaboratively in small teams to build a working synaptic connection by drawing cards featuring proteins and molecules involved in neurotransmission and placing the cards onto specific locations on the pre- and post-synaptic neurons illustrated on the game board. The game requires students to synthesize information learned across different modules to determine what structures are vital to a functioning synapse. In a post-game survey, students reported that playing enabled them to assess, increase, and apply content-specific knowledge, and promoted transferable skills including effective communication and critical thinking. Students also rated the game as an enjoyable learning experience. This board game could serve as an effective and engaging tool to review the fundamentals of neurotransmission across a range of neuroscience and biology courses.
A Semester without Exams: Approaches in a Small and Large Course.
Branco RC
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540949
Exams carry pedagogical downsides: they can create stress, decrease intrinsic motivation, and tend to reduce opportunities for creative problem-solving. Exams are also difficult to administer when flexibility is paramoun...
Exams carry pedagogical downsides: they can create stress, decrease intrinsic motivation, and tend to reduce opportunities for creative problem-solving. Exams are also difficult to administer when flexibility is paramount, such as during remote learning, when students have special testing conditions, or during a pandemic when a subset of students are sick or in quarantine. To account for these shortcomings, I designed and instituted two completely exam-free undergraduate Neuroscience and Behavior courses in the Spring of 2021, one a large introductory-level course and the other a small upper-level elective course. In the large introductory-level course, I used several methods including Gradescope and new roles for my Teacher's Assistants to keep the grading load manageable. This exam-free approach was evaluated in four areas: creative thinking, interest in the material, stress level, and academic performance. Evaluation of success in these areas was completed via student feedback and by comparing final projects to final projects from previous semesters. The exam-free approach produced favorable or neutral results in every measured outcome. The framework for an exam-free course described here could be a useful starting point for other instructors who want to eliminate exams.
DRD4 Allele Frequency as a Lab Exercise in Neuroscience and Genetics Courses.
Koob AO, Ballantyne S, Levesque AA … +2 more , Qureshi AA, Congdon S
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540948
DNA segments with variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) serve as a model for students to learn DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques in biology laboratory courses from the high school to the gradu...
DNA segments with variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) serve as a model for students to learn DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques in biology laboratory courses from the high school to the graduate level. Because of a growing interest in the neurosciences among undergraduates, we have developed a PCR exercise with a focus on the nervous system and behavior, with the aim of inspiring students from all aspects of the neurosciences to appreciate the central dogma and neurogenetics. DRD4 was a good candidate to provide a lab exercise that would be more engaging than VNTR analysis of a non-coding segment. DRD4 encodes for the dopamine D4 receptor and has been controversially associated with 'novelty seeking' or 'wanderlust' behavior. DRD4 has three common variants of the 48 bp sequence on exon 3, easily differentiated through gel electrophoresis. The 2 repeat (2R), 4 repeat (4R) and 7 repeat (7R) of the 48 bp sequence are the most common alleles. The 7R sequences result in the expressed dopamine D4 receptor having less affinity for dopamine binding, which was proposed to be the reason individuals engage in 'novelty seeking' behavior, to increase dopamine release to facilitate more binding to the receptor. Here we demonstrate an enjoyable and simple two lab sequence to analyze DRD4 genotypes that is appropriate for neuroscience and genetics courses.
The Spine Lab: A Short-Duration, Fully-Remote Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience.
Wickham RJ, Genné-Bacon EA, Jacob MH
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540947
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are increasingly common approaches to provide students with authentic laboratory experiences. Typically, CUREs are semester-long, in-person experiences that can be...
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are increasingly common approaches to provide students with authentic laboratory experiences. Typically, CUREs are semester-long, in-person experiences that can be financially and time prohibitive for some institutions, faculty, and students. Here, we developed a short-duration, fully-online CURE, the Spine Lab, to provide an opportunity for students to conduct original research. In this CURE, we focused on synaptic spines in the mammalian brain; synapses are the unit structure that functions in rapid information processing. The students worked together in pairs and as a class to analyze cortical neuron spine density and structural morphology changes between a mouse line with learning impairments (forebrain-specific β-catenin knockouts [β-cat cKOs]) and control (Ctl) littermates. The students showed their results in an online poster presentation. Their findings show that spine density is significantly reduced, while spine structural maturation is unaltered in the β-cat cKO. Defining pathophysiological changes caused by CTNNB1/β-catenin loss-of-function provides important insights relevant to human disorders caused by disruptive mutations in this gene. To assess the benefits of this CURE, students completed a pre- and post-test assessment including a content quiz, STEM identity survey, and a standardized CURE survey. Participation in the Spine Lab correlated with improved content and STEM identity scores, and decreased negative attitudes about science. Moreover, direct comparison to the CURE database reveals that the Spine Lab produces comparable benefits to traditional CUREs. This work as a whole suggests that short-duration, fully-online CUREs can provide benefit to students and could be an inclusive tool to improve student outcomes.
Reissue: A Decade of FUN: The First Ten Years of the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience.
Ramirez JJ, Normansell L
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540946
The year 2021 marks the 30 Anniversary of the founding of the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN). Within the first ten years of FUN's existence, the organization grew from a group of 67 individuals committed to...
The year 2021 marks the 30 Anniversary of the founding of the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN). Within the first ten years of FUN's existence, the organization grew from a group of 67 individuals committed to undergraduate education in the neurosciences to over 300 members. FUN established productive partnerships with the Society for Neuroscience and the Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs. FUN launched numerous projects to enhance the experience of undergraduates in the classroom and in the laboratory. FUN established a Travel Award Program that enabled undergraduates to attend the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience to present research posters on the floor of the meeting. Subsequently, undergraduate students were invited to present posters at the annual FUN Social. The listserv FUNnet was created to enable communication among FUN members. Workshops designed to enhance curricular development and laboratory-based experiences were begun in 1995 and continued every three years thereafter. Conversations to create regional conferences similar to the NorthEast Under/graduate Research Organization for Neuroscience (NEURON) conference were facilitated at the 2001 FUN Workshop. Efforts to improve National Institutes of Health funding for undergraduate colleges and universities were launched. Because of the dedication of FUN members, the first ten years of FUN's existence were filled with energetic innovations that significantly enhanced the education of undergraduate neuroscience students.
Quantitative Characterization of Output from the Directionally Selective Visual Interneuron H1 in the Grey Flesh Fly .
Gelperin A, Ambrosini AE
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540945
H1, a very well-studied insect visual interneuron, has a panoramic receptive field and is directionally selective in responding to optic flow. The synaptic basis for the directional selectivity of the H1 neuron has been...
H1, a very well-studied insect visual interneuron, has a panoramic receptive field and is directionally selective in responding to optic flow. The synaptic basis for the directional selectivity of the H1 neuron has been studied using both theoretical and cellular approaches. Extracellular single-unit recordings are readily obtained by beginning students using commercially available adults of the grey flesh fly . We describe an apparatus which allows students to present a series of moving visual stimuli to the eye of the restrained, minimally dissected adult , while recording both the single unit responses of the H1 neuron and the position and velocity of the moving stimulus. Students obtain quantitative and reproducible responses of H1, probing the response properties of the neuron by modulating stimulus parameters such as: direction and speed of movement, visual contrast, spatial wavelength, or the extent of the visual field occupied. Students learn to perform quantitative analysis of their data and to generate graphical representations of their results characterizing the tuning and receptive field of this neuron. This exercise demonstrates the utility of single unit recording of an identified interneuron in an awake restrained insect and promotes interpretation of these results in terms of the visual stimuli normally encountered by freely flying flies in their natural environment.
Pandemic Teaching: Using the Allen Cell Types Database for Final Semester Projects in an Undergraduate Neurophysiology Lab Course.
Ho YY, Roeser A, Law G … +1 more , Johnson BR
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540944
We designed a final semester research project that allowed students to apply the electrophysiological concepts they learned in a lab course to propose and answer experimental questions without access to laboratory equipm...
We designed a final semester research project that allowed students to apply the electrophysiological concepts they learned in a lab course to propose and answer experimental questions without access to laboratory equipment. We created the activity based on lesson plans from Ashley Juavinett and the Allen Institute for Brain Science (AIBS) Allen SDK online examples. An interactive graphic interface was added for students to explore and easily quantify subtle neuronal voltage changes. Before starting the final project, students had experience with conventional extracellular and intracellular recording techniques to record and analyze extracellular action potential firing patterns and intracellular resting, action, and synaptic potentials. They demonstrated their understanding of neural signal transmission in required lab reports using data they gathered before the pandemic shutdown. After students left campus, they continued to analyze data and write lab reports focused on neuronal excitability in snail and fly neurons with data supplied by the instructors. For their final project, students were challenged to answer questions addressing neuronal excitability at both the single neuron and neuronal population level by analyzing and interpreting the open-access, patch clamp recording data from the Allen Cell Types Database using code we provided (Python/Jupyter Notebook). This virtual final semester project allowed students to ask real-world medical and scientific questions from "start to end". Through this project, students developed skills to navigate an extensive online database and gained experience with coding-based data analysis. They chose neuronal populations from human and mouse brains to compare passive properties and neuronal excitability between and within brain areas and across different species and disease states. Additionally, students learned to do simple manipulations of Python code, work remotely in teams, and polish their written scientific presentation skills. This activity could complement other remote learning options such as neuronal simulations. Few online sources offer such a wealth of neuroscience data that students can use for class assignments, and even for research and keystone projects. The activity extends the traditional material often taught in upper-level neuroscience courses, with or without a laboratory section, providing a deeper understanding of the range of excitability properties that neurons express.
Race and the Ivory Tower: An Antiracism Exercise for an Undergraduate Neuroscience Classroom.
Roth JR, Gavin CF
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540943
This article details an antiracism exercise completed in an introductory undergraduate neuroscience class. Students completed an online pre-class multimedia module entitled "Race and the Ivory Tower" covering racism in s...
This article details an antiracism exercise completed in an introductory undergraduate neuroscience class. Students completed an online pre-class multimedia module entitled "Race and the Ivory Tower" covering racism in science and medicine, the neuroscience behind bias, and the impact of race and racism on health outcomes. The module included two videos, one podcast, and a peer-reviewed journal article, alongside several optional additional resources written for both academic and lay audiences. After completing the module, students participated in an open-ended online discussion followed by an anonymous survey to elicit feedback on the exercise. As a continuation of the antiracism exercise, students researched and reported on the work of a Black or nonwhite Hispanic/Latino scientist for a final project later in the semester. Sixty-eight of 69 students participated in the discussion, and the majority discussed the neuroscience of bias and public health effects of racism. Most students also discussed the importance of the module contents or further questions that they would explore. Sixty of 69 students answered the anonymous survey, where most students reported a better understanding of racism after interacting with the content. Additionally, most students felt better prepared to discuss racism in science and medicine and more able to identify unconscious bias. Finally, students reported that they enjoyed the module contents and online discussion. Overall, this exercise effectively introduced students to the ongoing challenge of racism in science and medicine through both scientific and sociological lenses. Students recognized the collective importance of the content, which was our goal as they represent the future leaders in neuroscience and medicine and should be equipped to address leading issues within their field.
Class Size and Student Performance in a Team-Based Learning Course.
Ng M, Newpher TM
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540942
High-enrollment university courses can be associated with decreased student learning and course satisfaction. In these large classes, students report feelings of isolation, reduced faculty interaction, and less motivatio...
High-enrollment university courses can be associated with decreased student learning and course satisfaction. In these large classes, students report feelings of isolation, reduced faculty interaction, and less motivation. Here we address whether team-based learning (TBL), a highly interactive and collaborative form of active learning, can improve the student experience in larger undergraduate neuroscience courses. Specifically, we analyzed student performance on summative assessments, as well as survey responses on measures of the classroom environment from a single TBL course, taught over a range of enrollment sizes (19-103 students). While the higher enrollment course terms had decreased ratings of course quality compared to the lower enrollment terms, we also found that student performance on exams was similar across all course term sizes. Furthermore, we observed no differences across class sizes for most measures of classroom dynamics and course characteristics. Taken together, our data suggest that the content knowledge outcomes and many aspects of the classroom environment were not negatively impacted in the higher enrollment versions of this TBL course.
Open-Ended Inquiry into Zebrafish Nerve Development Using Image Analysis.
Petersen SC
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540941
Open-ended laboratory projects increase student success and retention in the sciences. However, developing organismal-based research projects is a challenge for students with restricted laboratory access, such as those a...
Open-ended laboratory projects increase student success and retention in the sciences. However, developing organismal-based research projects is a challenge for students with restricted laboratory access, such as those attending courses remotely. Here I describe the use of image analysis of zebrafish neural development for authentic research projects in an introductory biology laboratory course. Zebrafish are a vertebrate model that produce large numbers of externally and rapidly developing embryos. Because zebrafish larvae are transparent, fluorescent reporters marking nervous system structures can be imaged over time and analyzed by undergraduate scientists. In the pilot of this project, remote first-year college students independently developed biological questions based on an image collection comparing zebrafish mutants and wild-type siblings. Students created and mastered techniques to analyze position, organization, and other morphological features of developing neurons and glia in the images to directly test their biological questions. At the end of the course, students communicated their project results in journal article format and oral presentations. Students were able to hone skills in organismal observation and data collection while studying remotely, and they reported excitement at applying lecture-based knowledge to their own independent questions. This module can be adapted by other instructors for both students on- and off-campus to teach principles of neural development, data collection, data analysis, and scientific communication.
The Open Neuroscience Initiative: A Free-to-Access and -Adopt Digital Textbook for Undergraduate Students of Introductory Neuroscience.
Lim SAO
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 35540940
The steadily-rising cost of higher education is a tremendous financial burden, and the purchasing of textbooks represents a significant cost of higher education. Financial hardship exaggerates wealth disparities, decreas...
The steadily-rising cost of higher education is a tremendous financial burden, and the purchasing of textbooks represents a significant cost of higher education. Financial hardship exaggerates wealth disparities, decreasing the diversity of learners. Additionally, a growing interest in the field of neuroscience among the population at large has increased the demand for easily accessible learning resources. The Open Neuroscience Initiative (ONI) is an open educational resource (OER) that covers several major topics that may be addressed in an undergraduate introductory neuroscience course. The ONI is a collaboratively-written and -edited free to download digital textbook in English that replaces the traditional print textbooks that may be used in typical introductory neuroscience, non-major brain and behavior, or physiological psychology courses. Adoption of the ONI for these types of classes therefore decreases the financial burden that college students face and increases inclusivity, improving accessibility to the knowledge acquired in a college undergraduate introductory neuroscience course.
Examining Empathy Through Consolation Behavior in Prairie Voles.
Wilson JM
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 34552447
Empathy is an affective and cognitive event in which an organism experiences an approximation of the physical or psychological state of another organism. The phenomenon has been well-studied in humans but is not as widel...
Empathy is an affective and cognitive event in which an organism experiences an approximation of the physical or psychological state of another organism. The phenomenon has been well-studied in humans but is not as widely researched in other animals. Burkett and colleagues in a 2016 article published in measured empathy in prairie voles () and meadow voles () by observing consolation behavior between non-stressed and stressed individuals. Their data from behavioral analyses and histochemistry support their hypothesis that consolation behavior in prairie voles shares similar behavioral characteristics and conserved biological mechanisms with human empathy. Prairie voles match anxiety and fear states as well as groom stressed familiar conspecifics to lessen their stress. An oxytocin receptor antagonist abolished this empathetic response. This research impacted the field of neuroscience by demonstrating human-like empathy in rodents, and thereby supporting the value of animal models to investigations of higher order human experiences. The paper is also a valuable and accessible resource to undergraduate neuroscience students-from introductory courses to advanced seminars. In the classroom, this research provides a foundational look at the expanding field of social neuroscience. Empathy in prairie voles raises thought-provoking discussion concerning emotions, social behavior, and human nature.
Exploring the Genetic Underpinnings of Aggression in .
Takemori T
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 34552446
Aggression is a multidimensional social behavior observed in a wide range of animal species. Displays of aggression serve as an integral component of intraspecies competition for access to resources, territory, and mates...
Aggression is a multidimensional social behavior observed in a wide range of animal species. Displays of aggression serve as an integral component of intraspecies competition for access to resources, territory, and mates. Despite being seen across nearly every facet of the animal kingdom, our understanding of how genes mediate aggression remains limited. A growing body of contemporary research has chosen to adopt the vinegar fly as an important tool in the modelling and study of aggression. Although references to aggression in appear in the early 1900s (Sturtevant, 1915), the study of aggression in received limited attention from researchers until the early 2000s. In 2006, Dierick and Greenspan were the first to investigate the genetic underpinnings of aggression in an unbiased fashion. They described in detail how candidate genes for aggression were identified by genetically screening fly strains that were selectively bred for heightened aggression. They identified that the gene mediated aggression at the phenotypic level. Dierick and Greenspan (2006) is an excellent demonstration of how the application of behavioral genetic concepts to genetics research can inform our understanding of how genes mediate behavior. This paper constitutes an excellent teaching resource for any behavioral neuroscience course and is a fine example of how comparatively simple model organisms like can be used to dissect the genetic underpinnings of complex behavior.
Getting Graded: Teaching Principles of Chemical Synaptic Transmission Without Action Potentials.
Strathern L
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 34552445
The study of synaptic transmission is foundational for undergraduate neuroscience students. Chemical synaptic transmitter release is usually presented as evoked by action potentials, but it can also be caused by subthres...
The study of synaptic transmission is foundational for undergraduate neuroscience students. Chemical synaptic transmitter release is usually presented as evoked by action potentials, but it can also be caused by subthreshold, 'graded' changes in presynaptic membrane potential. In a 1980 publication in the , Graubard and colleagues measured synaptic activity in the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion; they found that postsynaptic voltage changes occur in response to both action potentials and to graded depolarizations in presynaptic neurons. This was one of the first papers to clearly demonstrate that both graded and spike-mediated chemical synaptic transmission could occur concurrently at an identified synapse. Discussion of this work in undergraduate classrooms can encourage students to think in greater depth about the diversity of transmission mechanisms available to neurons.
Teaching Principles of Place Cells.
Sane VA
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 34552444
Animals navigate within their surrounding environment to find food, shelter, and mates; this behavior forms one of the most basic means of survival. The vertebrate hippocampus acts as an integration hub for varied dynami...
Animals navigate within their surrounding environment to find food, shelter, and mates; this behavior forms one of the most basic means of survival. The vertebrate hippocampus acts as an integration hub for varied dynamic processes such as attention, memory, perception, and decision-making. This ultimately allows an animal to move efficiently in its surroundings in search of food or to escape from predators. Place cells are neurons located within the hippocampus which are triggered in response to an animal entering specific places in its local environment. John O' Keefe first described the firing patterns of these cells in 1976 in a paper published in Experimental Neurology. This was a pioneering effort in combining the efficacy of electrophysiological recordings with the value of behavioral approaches in freely moving animals. The author also presented testable hypotheses of plausible mechanisms governing place cell activation which in turn provided a conceptual scaffold for a diverse range of subsequent work in the field. This is an excellent paper for undergraduate education because it provides the historical context to an important research avenue while simultaneously showing how clear and concise hypotheses can emerge from studying how neural activity correlates with animal behaviour.
Moving Closer to the Way Neuroscience Education Was before the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Ramos RL
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 34552443
Abstract loading — click title to view on PubMed.
Phantom Limb Pain: Feeling Sensation from a Limb that is No Longer Present and What it Can Reveal About Our Brain Anatomy.
Lemons ML
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 34552442
This is a flexible, interrupted video case that uses phantom limb pain as a platform to investigate brain anatomy with a focus on somatosensory cortical mapping and the homunculus. The case begins with a video of neurolo...
This is a flexible, interrupted video case that uses phantom limb pain as a platform to investigate brain anatomy with a focus on somatosensory cortical mapping and the homunculus. The case begins with a video of neurologist Dr. V.S. Ramachandran interviewing two amputees who experience phantom limb pain (part one). Through Dr. Ramachandran's dialog with amputees, students learn about the paradoxical condition of feeling pain in a limb that does not exist (e.g., phantom limb pain). Students witness Dr. Ramachandran analyzing fMRI data from an amputee, and subsequently learn the somatosensory cortical mapping of the amputee has remarkably changed. Dr. Ramachandran also introduces and demonstrates one form of treatment for phantom limb pain, the mirror box. The video case is supplemented with optional opportunities for further exploration about the mirror box (part two) and somatosensory cortical mapping, via the two-point discrimination test (parts three and four). In part two, students use the primary literature to investigate the effectiveness of the mirror box, and practice skills of interpreting figures. In parts three and four, students conduct a two-point discrimination test (part three) on each other or a person in their residence and analyze class data (part four). Students are led to discover conceptual connections between all four parts of this module. As one example, students are challenged to predict how two-point discrimination data from amputees (interviewed in the video, part one) would compare to students' two-point discrimination data (parts three and four). While the four parts of this learning module are highly interconnected, instructors can choose to selectively implement one or more parts. In addition, each part can be executed in the face-to-face classroom, as out-of-classroom assignment, in a synchronous or non-synchronous video meeting platform, or as a hybrid of these options, providing flexibility for the instructor. This case has been used in a 100-level face-to-face, non-science major course and it has been modified as an online module for a 300 level course.
A Course-Based Research Experience Using the Allen Brain Map: From Research Question to Poster Session.
Ryan J, Casimo K
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 34552441
San Francisco, CA A major challenge in implementing course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) is for students to collect enough data for a robust analysis given the time and equipment available. One approac...
San Francisco, CA A major challenge in implementing course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) is for students to collect enough data for a robust analysis given the time and equipment available. One approach to mitigating this constraint in a CURE is to use massive open datasets such as those from the Allen Brain Map, produced by the Allen Institute for Brain Science. We describe a multi-week CURE module in which students generate a research question that can be addressed using at least two datasets of the Allen Brain Map, perform their analysis, and produce a conference-style poster detailing their findings. This article includes an adaptable CURE assignment, tutorials introducing students to selected datasets from the Allen Brain Map, and a summary of student outcomes.
Assessment of , a Novel Research and Neurotechnology Based Approach for the Modern Neuroscience Classroom.
Johnson ZA, Sciolino NR, Plummer NW … +3 more , Harrison PR, Jensen P, Robertson SD
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ · 2021 · PMID 34552440
Neuroscience research is changing at an incredible pace due to technological innovation and recent national and global initiatives such as the BRAIN initiative. Given the wealth of data supporting the value of course-bas...
Neuroscience research is changing at an incredible pace due to technological innovation and recent national and global initiatives such as the BRAIN initiative. Given the wealth of data supporting the value of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) for students, we developed and assessed a neurotechnology CURE, . The goal of the course is to immerse undergraduate and graduate students in research and to explore technological advances in neuroscience. In the laboratory portion of the course, students pursued a hypothesis-driven, collaborative National Institutes of Health (NIH) research project. Using chemogenetic technology (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs-DREADDs) and a recombinase-based intersectional genetic strategy, students mapped norepinephrine neurons, and their projections and explored the effects of activating these neurons . In lecture, students compared traditional and cutting-edge neuroscience methodologies, analyzed primary literature, designed hypothesis-based experiments, and discussed technological limitations of studying the brain. Over two consecutive years in the Program at North Carolina State University, we assessed student learning and perceptions of learning based on Society for Neuroscience's (SfN) core concepts and essential principles of neuroscience. Using analysis of student assignments and pre/post content and perception-based course surveys, we also assessed whether the course improved student research article analysis and neurotechnology assessment. Our analyses reveal new insights and pedagogical approaches for engaging students in research and improving their critical analysis of research articles and neurotechnologies. Our data also show that our multifaceted approach increased student confidence and promoted a data focused mentality when tackling research literature. Through the integration of authentic research and a neurotechnology focus, provides a unique model as a modern neuroscience laboratory course.
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