Welcome To Your Brain Gym! Think Like A Neuroscientist

This course is focused on the concept of neurogenesis or new neuron generation (our brain gym), and its importance to combat mental health disorders. We will explore lab methods commonly used by neuroscientists to study brain processes.

We will review “big neuroscience” ideas: from the concept of the neuron, as the functional nervous system unit, to the current understanding of how those neurons are crucial in mental health disorders.

We will address questions like what brain gym is, where to find it, how to analyze it, and why it is important. In this regard, we will have activities to learn some of the main brain structures. Then, you will learn the bases of research tools such as immunofluorescence and microscopy as a way to identify those neurons. We will then analyze brain functionality through behavioral test studies and validate results using biostatistics in a friendly user way. Finally, we will explore ways to improve our brain gym, like meditation, art, and music. More than that, this course will motivate you towards the scientific process world and demystify the scientific method. If you are looking for an easy-going learning environment, with fun activities and intensive brain activity… This course is for you!

$495/student for this two-week camp

Week 1: April 5-9

Week 2: April 12-16

Online via Zoom. Two hours of in-person teaching time with intermittent group breakout sections Monday through Friday. Students will be assigned work outside of class to be completed independently and in small groups.

Daily Monday through Friday, 4:00-6:00PM EST

Dr. Sylvia Ortega-Martinez is a passionate Spanish neuroscientist. She has developed her scientific career working in top academic institutions around the world, such as the Instituto Cajal (Spain), Washington University (US), Oxford University (UK), Turku Centre of Biotechnology (Finland) and the University of Chicago (US), among others. Her work was focused on the role of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, as a key mechanism in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Currently, she provides scientific and technical support to customers, and works closely with the engineering team in the process of development and improvement of new products in the Neuroscience field.

Dr. Ortega-Martinez also works actively in science divulgation, as one of her main passions. She has contributed to Clubes de Ciencia, WATS project, Soapbox Science, and Woman’s Brain Project, among others. Currently she leads a WhatsApp group of 50 Mexican students, providing mentorship and organizing zoom talks to discuss different aspects in science. Dr. Ortega-Martinez also believes in the importance of maintaining a growing interdisciplinary networking community in science. In this regard, she is active via Twitter and LinkedIn. Currently she is exploring her photography art interest (it comes from her time in microscopy) and just released her own website.

Dr. Ortega-Martinez’s accomplishments include an International PhD in Neuroscience, 19 published academic manuscripts in the Neuroscience field, collaboration with top Institutions around the world, as well as proven leadership in mentorship and scientific communications activities.

Twitter: Milyunaislaspa1
LinkedIn: t.ly/yhME
Google scholarship website: https://goo.gl/y5TGwZ
Researchgate website: https://goo.gl/y5TGwZ
Own website: sylviaortegamartinezphotography.com

Objectives

The students will:

1. Define neurogenesis: what it is, why is important and where is located.
2. Identify methods used to do brain research in the lab
3. Describe/identify at least one activity that promotes neurogenesis

Outcomes

1. Find neurogenesis in a brain diagram.
2. Describe some reasons why immunohistochemistry, microscopy, behavioral tests help scientists to understand neurogenesis
3. Discriminate how music, meditation, art promote neurogenesis.

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Images and Documents

Ascorbic acid experiment. (A) Immunofluorescence of ascorbic acid experiment, analyzing the formation and disappearance of γ-H2AX foci after addition of DEXA alone and DEXA + ascorbic acid (AA). Arrows indicate γH2AX-positive cell foci. Objective 40X. (B) Percentage of γH2AX-positive cell foci in the different conditions (control, DEXA and DEXA + AA). CT2A DEXA w/o IR (p = 0.046), IR + 240 (p = 0.025). APP. PS1 L.1 DEXA IR + 240 (p=). App. PS1 L.3 DEXA IR + 240 (p = 0.014).

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis within the brain. A) Dorsal dentate gyrus showing by immunofluorescences the Neural Stem Cells, NSCs. NSCs are double labeled with Sox2(red) & GFAP (green), while in B) it is possible to observe the new neuroblasts generated labelled by immunofluorescence with DCX (red). Confocal images at 20x and 40x.