Many a high schooler has won a science fair or two using our neuroscience gear. But this science fair season, we decided to support the next generation of scientific innovators in a slightly different way: by donating prizes to the top projects at the Larchmont Charter High School Science Fair in Los Angeles! This event is […]

It isn’t official in many states yet, but let’s face it. The writing is on the walls: School is out for the year! Many students may think this is an opportunity to play unlimited Fortnite… or maybe Valorant if they were lucky enough to get a beta key! But as parents and educators, it is […]

Are you a fan of DIY neuroscience or science in general? If yes, you’re bound to enjoy the long-awaited episode of the world-famous Youtuber Vsauce’s series “Mind Field” featuring some of our staple experiments! Until recently, the show used to require a Youtube Premium subscription, but now you can enjoy all three seasons for free. So what’s […]

Grant Funded Science! Just a hop and a skip away from our home office in Ann Arbor Michigan, Biology teachers at Okemos High School requested and received grant funding to introduce several Human-Human-Interfaces into their classrooms. The results left their students stunned… “‘This feels so weird!’ was a common exclamation. Most students laughed during the experience. A few disliked the […]

Longtime Backyard Brains fans may recognize Pablo Guerra in the majority of our human interface videos. When not acting for Backyard Brains, Pablo Works as Electronic Music Artist, specifically, modifying electronic music instruments in a discipline called “Circuit Bending.” Circuit bending or also called “toy hacking” is the art of corrupting a musical toy from […]

Neuroscience is making its way across the globe! Recently, The Harvard South Asia Institute selected 25 young students of technology to participate in a two-week long workshop, introducing them to the excitement and interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience and engineering in Bangalore, India. Course managers included our longtime Harvard colleagues and scientists Venkatesh Murthy and Laura Magnotti , and during two weeks […]

After a long and difficult time discovering the buccal ganglia, I recommend using a microscope with at least 6-8 Watt LED bulbs or else you will struggle to find the right area. The buccal ganglia is almost bikini-shaped as shown in the previous log from Ramakrishnan et al. 2014 and is seated directly behind the […]

Many EEG experiments are done using 21 electrode helmets to gain better localization resolution. In our case, this will not be necessary. Since the secondary motor area generates the readiness potential, the strongest RP signal is found immediately over that region, contralateral to the side of the body performing the task. In our case, the […]

Welcome! This is Kylie Smith, a Michigan State University undergraduate writing to you from a basement in Ann Arbor. I am studying behavioral neuroscience and cognition at MSU and have been fortunate enough to have landed an internship with the one and only Backyard Brains for the summer. I am working on The Consciousness Detector […]

Coming soon to a backyard near you. At least, that’s the idea. We’re sure the technology will catch up if we give it enough prodding and throw an intern or two its way. And hey if not? There’s still lasers, sounds like a win/win to me. Wait we don’t get lasers either? This is really going […]

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.

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 […]