Earlier this year, Science Approach put out a call for FUN faculty to review and comment on our neuroscience e-labs before they were published. To say thanks to FUN faculty for contributing to our effort, we are providing a coupon code for you and your students to use with our first release: New Neurons for You After All.
To use the code, visit the Science Approach website and follow the instructions for registering and purchasing the e-lab. Enter the code NGJMMD in the appropriate box when you reach the Checkout screen. The code gives you and your students lifetime access to the e-lab. It may be used through 31 December 2012.
In the New Neurons for You After All e-lab, students replicate research conducted by Elizabeth Gould, Ph.D., on the effects of exercise and social living conditions on neurogenesis in rats. The components of this Moodle-based e-lab include: (1) a brief tutorial on the history of neurogenesis research and the methods used by scientists to identify newly born neurons; (2) an introduction to the experimental design employed to conduct the research; (3) a tutorial on how to identify BrdU-labeled cells in thin slices of rat hippocampal tissue; (4) a digital image analysis module in which students use ImageJ to count newly born neurons in research images and send the counts to an online database; (5) a statistical analysis module in which students use Rpad to check and graph their research results; (6) a summary lesson in which students come to conclusions about the research they have conducted, propose an additional research hypothesis about neurogenesis that could be tested by a scientist, and write a brief essay about the societal implications of this research; and (7) a module for students to e-mail assessment results to their instructor. Along the way, students receive feedback to help them understand and apply neurogenesis research. The e-lab is targeted for introductory and non-majors courses.
Special faculty resources are available, including answer keys for assessments in the e-lab. Please complete the form at the following link to request access to those resoruces: Request Access to Faculty Resources.
Additional e-labs will be released during the fall of 2012:
- Seeing GABAA Receptors at Work: Quantifying Radioligand Binding and Its Modulation by Endogenous Signaling Molecules
- Form and Function of Individual Neurons: Using Confocal Images and Modeling to Learn About Structure/Function Relationships in Nerve Cells
- Your Brain Without Sleep: Analyzing How Sleep Deprivation Impacts Brain Function
- Teen Brains on Alcohol and Other Drugs: Using fMRI to Assess Cognitive Damage and Predict Future Substance Use
If you have questions about Science Approach's e-labs, please send a message via the contact form on the Science Approach website.
Development of the e-labs described above was supported by Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Grant Number R44MH070250 from the National Institute Of Mental Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute Of Mental Health or the National Institutes of Health.