Neurogaming Technology Meets Neuroscience Education: A Cost-Effective, Scalable, and Highly Portable Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory for Neuroscience.

Active research-driven approaches that successfully incorporate new technology are known to catalyze student learning. Yet achieving these objectives in neuroscience education is especially challenging due to the prohibitive costs and technical demands of research-grade equipment. Here we describe a method that circumvents these factors by leveraging consumer EEG-based neurogaming technology to create an affordable, scalable, and highly portable teaching laboratory for undergraduate courses in neuroscience. This laboratory is designed to give students hands-on research experience, consolidate their understanding of key neuroscience concepts, and provide a unique real-time window into the working brain. Survey results demonstrate that students found the lab sessions engaging. Students also reported the labs enhanced their knowledge about EEG, their course material, and neuroscience research in general.

[1]  Johnson Thie,et al.  A wireless marker system to enable evoked potential recordings using a wireless EEG system (EPOC) and a portable computer , 2013 .

[2]  Alexander Klistorner,et al.  Biomedical signal acquisition with streaming wireless communication for recording evoked potentials , 2012, Documenta Ophthalmologica.

[3]  Kirsten Zimbardi,et al.  Embedding undergraduate research experiences within the curriculum: a cross-disciplinary study of the key characteristics guiding implementation , 2014 .

[4]  F Bella Student-active science. Models of innovation in college science teaching; Edited by A P McNeal and C D'Avanzo. pp 490. Saunders College Publishing, Fort Worth. 1997. $47 ISBN 0-03-024307-6 , 1998 .

[5]  Arnaud Delorme,et al.  EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis , 2004, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[6]  Melissa Troyer,et al.  Virtual EEG: A Software-Based Electroencephalogram Designed for Undergraduate Neuroscience-Related Courses , 2008, Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience.

[7]  R. Murray Research and teaching: beyond the divide , 2008 .

[8]  John D Griffin,et al.  Technology in the teaching of neuroscience: enhanced student learning. , 2003, Advances in physiology education.

[9]  Anthony J. Ries,et al.  Usability of four commercially-oriented EEG systems , 2014, Journal of neural engineering.

[10]  Julio J. Ramirez,et al.  Undergraduate Education in Neuroscience: A Model for Interdisciplinary Study , 1997 .

[11]  G. McArthur,et al.  Validation of the Emotiv EPOC EEG system for research quality auditory event-related potentials in children , 2015, PeerJ.

[12]  Katherine R. Mickley Steinmetz,et al.  Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Undergraduates for Careers in Cognitive Neuroscience , 2010, Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience.

[13]  Jeff Miller,et al.  Selection and preparation of hand and foot movements: Cz activity as a marker of limb system preparation. , 2012, Psychophysiology.

[14]  Mark W. Hurd,et al.  Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI): A Brief Exercise for an Undergraduate Laboratory Course , 2006, Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience.

[15]  Marina Schmid,et al.  An Introduction To The Event Related Potential Technique , 2016 .

[16]  J. Boitano,et al.  Neuroscience Curricula for Undergraduates: A Survey , 2001, The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry.

[17]  H. Jasper Report of the committee on methods of clinical examination in electroencephalography , 1958 .

[18]  Peter de Lissa,et al.  Measuring the face-sensitive N170 with a gaming EEG system: A validation study , 2015, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[19]  G. McArthur,et al.  Validation of the Emotiv EPOC® EEG gaming system for measuring research quality auditory ERPs , 2013, PeerJ.

[20]  David A. Schwarz,et al.  Educational Neurogaming: EEG-Controlled Videogames as Interactive Teaching Tools For Introductory Neuroscience , 2014, Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment.

[21]  C. L. Cleland,et al.  Integrating recent advances in neuroscience into undergraduate neuroscience and physiology courses. , 2002, Advances in physiology education.

[22]  G. McArthur,et al.  Case study: auditory brain responses in a minimally verbal child with autism and cerebral palsy , 2015, Front. Neurosci..

[23]  Nancy Curtis,et al.  Incorporating an ERP Project into Undergraduate Instruction. , 2016, Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience.