Backyard Brains: Bringing Neurophysiology Into Secondary Schools

Project Summary Deciphering how the brain functions remains one of the great challenges remaining to humanity, intriguing scientific professionals and the public equally. The notorious complexity of the nervous system results in neural diseases remaining widespread and difficult to treat. Tools for studying the brain are often difficult to use and only available to graduate students and scientists in large research universities. Providing accessible neuroscience research tools and educational equipment for high schools will accelerate neuroscience innovation by exposing future scientists, engineers, and doctors to principles of nervous system function at much earlier stages in their careers. Implementing electrophysiology and other neuroscience techniques into K12 education has historically been difficult to the lack of affordable tools combined with compelling and accessible learning materials. To address this need, we are developing a neuroscience curriculum based on graduate­level neuroscience research tools that can be used in the High School Classroom.1) The “SpikerBox”: a family of bio­amplifiers that are easy­to­use, inexpensive (andlt;$100), portable, and candetect and record the action potentials of the nervous system of invertebrates, action potentials ofhuman muscles (EMG), the electrical signature of the heart (EKG), and the electrical oscillations of thehuman brain (EEG).2) The “RoboRoach”: a wireless neural stimulator for investigating insect behavior.3) The “OptoStimmer”: a fully portable mobile phone based miniature microscope and electrophysiologyapparatus enabling optogenetic experiments in fruit flies in high school classrooms.4) The “SpikerShield”: a human interface toolkit that allows students to connect their bodies’ electricalsignals (from muscles, heart, eyes, and brain) into creative engineering team projects such as roboticgrippers, computer mice, musical instruments, video game interfaces, and prosthetic models.5) A Comprehensive student neuroscience text and Teacher manual that focuses on problem­basedinstructional neuroscience units, with guidance for managing a problem­based classroom. As neuroscience is a multi­disciplinary field encompassing biology, medicine, mathematics, and engineering, the educational tools and materials to be developed here will improve learning in STEM­related disciplines and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and physicians.Narrative Backyard Brains will commercialize a neuroscience curriculum based on electrophysiology tools, detailed text, and software to allow secondary school students to investigate the living nervous systems of humans and insects in the classroom. Students will be able to non­invasively experiment with human electrophysiological signals (brain, nerves, muscles, eyes, etc.), build engineering interfaces with these signals to control robots and other machines, and also investigate individual neurons in insects. By allowing 6­12th grade students to do what was previously only available in advanced universities, we aim to inspire the next generation of scientists, physicians, and engineers as well as accelerate fundamental neuroscience research.