• BYB Summer Camp Internships: Alex on How to Train Your Cockroach
    Education
    I’m Alex, a neuroscience major from the wonderful Michigan State University (GO GREEN!)**, down in Ann Arbor for the summer as an intern with Backyard Brains. I’m working to be a behavior trainer of the cockroach, Periplaneta Americana, through means of operant conditioning. What is operant conditioning? In short, operant conditioning is a way of […]
  • BYB Summer Camp Internships: Cort Turns Up for Optogenetics
    Education
    My name is Cort Thompson and I’m one of the incredibly privileged interns working at Backyard Brains this summer. I’m an undergraduate neuroscience student at Michigan State University and this summer I am working to bring the cutting edge technique of optogenetics to the classroom while also observing the courtship behaviors and gustatory system of […]
  • BYB Summer Camp Internships: Marta's Investigation Into Circadian Rhythms
    Education
    Hi my name is Marta Mazur! I am a junior majoring in neuroscience at Michigan State University and I’m part of the Backyard Brains Summer Camp (internship program). My goal by the end of the summer is to create an apparatus to measure the circadian rhythm of a cockroach, or rather the natural sleep/wake cycle […]
  • A Cockroach's Life Cycle
    Education
    In case you’re unfamiliar with Backyard Brains, we like Cockroaches. You might even say we love them. Cockroach’s are hardy insects with a knack for neuroscience and performance. The cockroaches we work with are known as Blaberus Discoidalis or False Death’s Head cockroaches (among many common names). They are often bred for reptile food but we […]
  • Backyard Brains Welcomes Interns from MSU
    Education
    Summer is finally shining rays of sunlight on our lovely hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and with it Backyard Brains is welcoming its newest bright minds from Michigan State University’s Undergraduate Neuroscience department. Marta, Olivier, Alex, Cort, and Dylan met in the BYB office at the early hour of 10am (well, early for a college […]
  • Uncategorized
    We are in Boston at NSTA (National Science Teacher’s Association), booth 1432, from Thursday 11 AM – Saturday 5 PM. We also have workshops Saturday in room 107A at 8 AM and 2 PM. Come by, say hello, and see some new SpikerShield and Microscope Inventions.
  • Mending Love: The Human-Human-Interface is now Available
    Uncategorized
    Of the many problems that exist in this world, many would agree that at a personal level… the most drastic problem is the lack of connection between people. The probability of a marriage ending in divorce is 40-50%, with many divorcees claiming that “the feeling simply went away,” disappearing into the ether of space.  The […]
  • Spikes Coming to Oaxaca for the first Mexican Maker Faire
    Education
    If you are nearby Oaxaca this coming weekend (March 22-23), we will be at the Maker Faire demonstrating neuroscience and also running Make and Take Workshops.  ¡Vamos a la tierra de Nahuatl y Chapulines! ¡Vengan ustedes para ver las espigas de neuronas y músculos!
  • Manuscript Published on Earthworm Conduction Velocity Experiments
    Uncategorized
    Over the past year, we have worked on writing up our earthworm conduction velocity experiments for formal scientific publication. After one round of peer-review, we are pleased to announce the paper is now out! It is in the journal Advances in Physiology Education, published by one of our favorite organizations, the American Physiology Society. Read […]
  • New Experiment released - The Human-Human-Interface
    Education
    If you came by our booth at the Society for Neuroscience meeting last November in San Diego, perhaps you saw (and participated in) our newest experiment – the “human-human-interface.” When one person contracts their muscles, we use our EMG SpikerShield amplifier paired with an Arduino to cause a partner’s muscles to contract as well. Our […]
  • Backyard Brains Runs a 3-day Workshop for High School Teachers / Backyard Brains Tiene un Gran Taller Para Docentes De Colegio
    Education
    During the days of January 8,9, and 10, 2014, Backyard Brains ran its most ambitious workshop yet – three days of teaching high school teachers how to build their own labs and teach neuroscience in their classroom. During this workshop, 6 teachers from Dunalistar High School in Las Condes, Santiago, learned: -How to record electrical activity […]
  • In Celebration of Open Source Lab Equipment and 3D printing
    Education
    We are big believers in the power of 3D printing to allow labs and scientists to share their inventions around the world, making experiments easier and scientific progress faster. We bought our first MakerBot in April of 2012, and our current “Fleet” of 3D printers at Backyard Brains now numbers three (two MakerBot Replicator Originals […]