Undergraduates attend national neuroscience meeting
David
Bucci, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences,
likes to find ways to make his courses come alive. Last fall, for example, he
planned an entire advanced psychology seminar around attending the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in
November, held in Washington, D.C. The meeting, explains Bucci, is the premier
yearly gathering for thousands of scientists in the neuroscience community.
Left to right: Chadd Funk '07, Katherine Lang '06, and Assistant Professor of
Psychological and Brain Science David Bucci travelled to Washington, D.C., to
attend the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting. (Photo by Joseph Mehling
'69)
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"Our syllabus was straightforward," says Bucci. "We picked
several topics that were going to be covered at the meeting, and then we
researched and discussed them so we would be fully prepared to participate when
we got to the conference. I think this is an unusual, but effective, way to run
a course."
Bucci's approach was designed to expose students to contemporary themes,
theories, and research in the field of neuroscience. By the end of the term,
the students not only learned what was new in this field, they had also met
world-class researchers and gotten an introduction to what it would be like to
pursue a career in neuroscience.
"I really liked the way the course was run," says Chadd Funk '07,
who is majoring in neuroscience. "Professor Bucci provided guidance and
background on the topics. He insisted that we participate in the discussions
and was eager to hear our opinions. This forced us to think critically about
the topics, and it helped us develop skills for approaching new problems in the
field."
Katherine Lang '06, a biology major and neuroscience minor, said that the best
part of the course was the introduction to the latest research into a variety
of topics.
"The meeting was incredible," she says. "The sheer amount of
information alone was exciting and overwhelming. I study the effects of steroid
hormones on sexual behavior in rats and found the presentations dealing with
this topic most interesting."
Funk's interests leaned toward glial cells, the cells that provide the
support system for the brain's nerve cells.
"The presentation that stood out the most to me was the one on glial
cells," he says. "The lecturer described a novel form of
heterosynaptic depression involving an astrocyte, which is a type of glial
cell. Activity at one synapse, the connection between two neurons, signals to
the astrocyte, which then sends that signal to another nearby synapse and
reduces that synapse's effectiveness. It was quite exciting because it
represented a new and very involved role for astrocytes."
Both students said they would recommend this course to others. Because it
covered the latest in neuroscience research, it was timely and engaging. And,
according to Funk, there were culinary perks as well.
"There's fabulous Ethiopian food in D.C.," he says.
By SUSAN KNAPP
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