Service learning in neuroscience courses.

Incorporating service learning (SL) components can be a very powerful way to engage students, add relevance, and develop community-building skills. SL experiences can play important roles in neuroscience classes, although the roles can be different depending on the needs of the classes. In this paper, we will present two models of incorporating service learning into neuroscience courses.

Neural Networks: Making Connections about the Brain and about College while Monitoring Student Engagement in Second Graders.

This article describes a neuroscience outreach program developed by college undergraduates and aimed at second graders. Over a period of four weeks, twenty-five Denison students enrolled in a non-majors course on gender and the brain visited twenty-four second grade classrooms to engage a total of 464 students. We had a mission to both promote college awareness and to specifically bring some brain science into the classroom.

Sex, Gender, and the Brain: A Non-Majors Course Linking Neuroscience and Women's Studies.

This article describes a non-majors biology class linking neuroscience and women's studies. The class had 24 students from 13 majors. We met for three classroom hours and three laboratory hours each week.

Do antennule and aesthetasc structure in the crayfish Orconectes virilis correlate with flow habitat?

The local flow environment affects the shape of waterborne chemical signals through a variety of physical mechanisms and at several scales. Since crayfish rely on these chemical signals to extract information about predators, prey, and mates, one might expect the chemical sensors (aesthetascs) on crayfish antennules to be physically tuned to the presentation of chemical cues by the flow environment. This hypothesis was tested by comparing length, diameter, and spacing of antennules and aesthetascs among geographically distinct populations of Orconectes virilis.

Structural and functional changes in regenerating antennules in the crayfish Orconectes sanborni.

Crayfish rely on the chemosensory neurons in their antennules to help them find food and habitat and to mediate social interactions. These structures often sustain damage from aggressive interactions or from the environment, but they have the ability to regenerate. In this study, we examine whether the effects of antennule ablation and regeneration on odor-tracking ability correlate with structural changes in the antennule that occur during regeneration.

Crayfish aggression and the androgenic gland in a behavior lab for non-majors.

Male Procambarus clarkii were matched by size and largest claw length and observed interacting in pair matches before and after removal of the androgenic gland or a sham operation. Although results were not significant, trends suggested that males showed less aggression after the removal of the androgenic gland. Average bout duration did not decrease, but mean intensity of interaction decreased.

An Investigative Laboratory Exercise Examining the Cell Signaling and Regulatory Properties of Neurons in the Regenerating Forelimbs of the Axolotl Ambystoma mexicanum.

Many students understand the electrical properties of neurons and can adequately describe the creation and transmission of electrical impulses. However, students often have difficulty when it comes to understanding how neurons have an equally important role in cell signaling. This latter function is crucial in the establishment of proper cell fate during regeneration.

Fine-scale patterns of odor encounter by the antennules of mantis shrimp tracking turbulent plumes in wave-affected and unidirectional flow.

Many marine animals track odor plumes to their source. Although studies of plume-tracking behavior have been performed in unidirectional flow, benthic animals such as crustaceans live in coastal habitats characterized by waves. We compared signal encounters by odor-plume-tracking stomatopods (mantis shrimp) in wave-affected and unidirectional flow in a flume.

Using lobster noses to inspire robot sensor design.

Robots are needed to locate the sources of toxic chemical plumes. Lobsters, which track odor plumes for many ecologically crucial activities, can provide inspiration for robot designers. Before accurate search strategies for robots can be developed, how odor molecules are captured by the lobster's chemosensors must be understood.

Molecule capture by olfactory antennules: mantis shrimp.

A critical step in the process of olfaction is the movement of odorant molecules from the environment to the surface of a chemosensory structure. Many marine crustaceans capture odorant molecules with arrays of chemosensory sensilla (aesthetascs) on antennules that they flick through the water. We developed a model to calculate molecule flux to the surfaces of aesthetascs in order to study how the size, aesthetasc spacing, and flick kinematics of olfactory antennules affect their performance in capturing molecules from the surrounding water.

From odor molecules to plume tracking: an interdisciplinary, multilevel approach to olfaction in stomatopods.

Like many marine crustaceans, mantis shrimp rely on their sense of smell to find food, mates, and habitat. In order for olfaction to function, odorant molecules in the surrounding fluid must gain access to the animal's chemosensors. Thus fluid motion is important for olfaction, both in terms of the large scale fluid movements (currents, waves, etc.