Hi all! I’m Jess. I’m a senior neuroscience major from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT. It’s a small, private liberal arts school you’ve probably never heard of, but I promise you it’s the best small, private liberal arts school you’ve probably never heard of (with an awesome neuroscience program). Prior to my academic […]

Hello again! This is Anastasiya, and I’m here to tell you that there have been a LOT of developments in my project since we last spoke. For starters, we now have live jellies! And while that’s arguably the most important news, I also have updates on the tank setup, the custom jellyfish tracking software, and a […]

Rockefeller’s Summer Neuroscience Program: Graduate Students share their excitement for Neuroscience with teens from all over NYC The Summer Neuroscience Program (SNP) is self-described as “a two-week course aimed at introducing talented and enthusiastic high school students to the brain,” but could more affectionately be described as summer neuroscience camp! Students learn about the history of neuroscience, modern trends and […]

About me Hi! I am Juan Ferrada, a biochemistry student at the lovely Universidad de Santiago in Chile. That’s me below with my girlfriend Rocia on campus. She is an important part of my project. At the university I work with Dr. Patricio’s Rojas, a longtime colleague of Backyard Brains. Thanks to Patricio, Backyard Brains’ equipment […]

***Written by Nour Chahine*** Can you use a brain-computer interface to perform magic tricks? Guess what card someone is thinking of? That is exactly what my TinyML project, Pick a Card, is all about.  I will develop a small screen to show a set of playing cards while measuring EEGs. The subject chooses a card, and an AI […]

Tired of having to dampen those sponges, and adding fresh potatoes for your cockroaches during these dry winter months? Well, this may be the solution for you. Here’s what you’ll need: Twine (We borrowed some from Colin Stoetzner’s science video art project) Shampoo/Mouthwash sampler bottle Pair of Scissors Cockroaches (Optional) Simply poke a hole in the top of […]

— Written by Carla Contreras Mena — Hello! Carla Contreras Mena from Santiago, Chile, here again. Welcome to the conclusion of my work during my internship with Backyard Brains. Experiment Update In the last few months, I’ve had to study more about plants. Why? Because, In my daily life in the laboratory, I’m not very familiar […]

So memory hacking during sleep is a thing? With endless runs back and forth to Om of Medicine chasing down my subjects, to countless hours staring at the Mona Lisa of sleep: Delta waves, and many other ups and downs during this summer… I can finally tell you it is quite possible!! As August […]

This post comes from our friend Dr. Thomas Tagoe, who was gracious enough to allow us to host his writing on our blog! Dr. Tagoe assisted with a recent neuroscience “Teacher Training Workshop” where dozens of teachers learned strategies for teaching neuroscience to their students. Included in the workshop was the Backyard Brains Neuron SpikerBox! […]

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 […]

Hello! My name is Matías Morales. I am studying biochemistry in the neuroscience laboratory at the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (also called USACH). We study the NKCC1 channel role in the hippocampus in a model of autism in rats using electrophysiology methods. During hippocampal development, the concentrations of the channels responsible for regulating […]

— Written by Tim Marzullo — Jeopardy is an American institution, and we have fond memories of watching their episodes with our families during our youth. We still watch reruns to relax, and recently something caught our eye. While watching episode 8364, which originally played on March 21, 2021 (Season 37) with guest host Dr. […]