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The Amazing Brain: A Neuroscience Experience

Program dates: check-in June 21, class June 22-23, 2020

Program cost: $340

Includes lodging, all meals and any field trips. Students arrive on campus Sunday, June 21, and depart Tuesday, June 23.

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Course description

In this two-day workshop students will be introduced to the organization and function of the brain.

Participants will learn about the brain in the same way the neuroscientists do, by asking questions, performing hands-on experiments, and drawing conclusions from their findings.

Activities include sheep brain dissection, the recording of electrical potentials from the legs of cockroaches, and the collection of biophysical signals from the human brain and body.

Activities will be supplemented by videos, short lectures, and discussions of topics that most interest the group. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a clearer understanding of the field of neuroscience and its practices.

Tentative schedule

Sunday, June 21

  • Check-in
  • Welcome

Monday, June 22

  • 9 a.m. — Brain organization and basic function
  • 9:45 a.m. — Sheep brain dissection
  • 11 a.m. — Small group work session
  • Noon — Lunch
  • 1 p.m. — Introduction to neural communication
  • 1:45 p.m. — Cockroach physiology lab I
  • 3 p.m. — Introduction to neuroprosthetics
  • 3:30 p.m. — Cockroach physiology lab II
  • 4 p.m. — Dismissal

Tuesday, June 23

  • 9 a.m. — Introduction to psychophysiology
  • 9:30 a.m. — Psychophysiology lab rotations I/II/III/IV (concurrent)
  • Noon — Lunch
  • 1 p.m. — Introduction to fear conditioning
  • 1:30 p.m. — Collect data and design future experiments
  • 2:30 p.m. — Discussion of neurological disorders
  • 3:30 p.m. — Amazing Brain trivia
  • 4 p.m. — Dismissal

Instructor: Dr. Rupa Gordon

Dr. Rupa Gordon
Dr. Rupa Gordon

Dr. Rupa Gordon is an assistant professor of psychology at Augustana. She received her Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Iowa, where her research focused on understanding the effects of brain injury on behavior.

At Augustana, she teaches a variety of neuroscience courses focused on brain behavior relationships, and conducts research focused on the neural processes involved in social behavior.