We spent an occasionally stormy Saturday on the green, hilly campus of Washington State University in Salmon Creek, north of downtown Vancouver… WSU was hosting southwest Washington’s 2015 MESA Day, and students from area public schools were there to learn about academic and career opportunities in STEM fields, including neuroscience. MESA…
Another enthusiastic crowd of velocipedal neuroscience and art fans arrived at the incomparable Velo Cult for our first post-daylight savings NW Noggin event… Sunlight illuminated the ceiling-mounted bikes as Monique Smith, a graduate student in Behavioral Neuroscience at OHSU, presented fascinating research on empathy and chronic pain to an audience happily sipping…
Sixteen committed NW Noggin volunteers from Washington State University Vancouver and PSU made an early morning journey to the enormous (2300 student!) Skyview High School in Salmon Creek, Washington, just down the road from WSU-V… We were there to meet students in three, 10th grade biology classrooms, along with their teacher Angela…
And a full house of NW Noggin volunteers, including Grace Hoinowski, Brittany Wouden, Chelsey Anderson, Sarah Neveux, Angela Morrelli, Angela Johnson, and Max Neideigh from WSU Vancouver, and Sarah Loftus, Lauren Wilgus, Amanda Yancy, Julian Rodriguez, Aldair Rodriguez, Alex Voigt, Allie Clark, Austin Howard, and Sam DeLuche from PSU… We…
Our students from WSUV and PSU staffed a busy information table and new display, built by Jeff Leake, to speak about our outreach efforts in Portland and Vancouver at the Newmark Theater in downtown Portland on Monday night… We were there to hear renowned neuroscientist Christof Koch, the Chief Scientific Officer of the…
Chronic pain torments more Americans than heart disease, diabetes and cancer combined, yet its neurobiological basis remains a mystery, and successful treatment is rare. Researchers at OHSU and elsewhere are now exploring the powerful influence of social and environmental factors on the experience of chronic pain, and how understanding empathy…
This week our Velo crowd explored how memories depend on changes in neuron connections (i.e., synapses), and how these changes require expression of specific genes… Christie Pizzimenti, a graduate student in Behavioral Neuroscience at OHSU, enthusiastically described her research on how PTSD and substance use disorders involve powerful “excitatory” memory expression in the wrong contexts; that…
Ten enthusiastic, multi-state, undergraduate NW Noggin volunteers from WSU Vancouver and Portland State University spent an entire day at Cascade Middle School in Vancouver, Washington – home to 900 curious and adventurous 6th through 8th graders! Our undergraduates gained tremendous real world experience in these classrooms, and enjoyed the chance to practice their…
Our Noggin volunteers from WSU Vancouver and Portland State headed up interstate 5 today for an afternoon discussing neurons, networks, and the functional contributions of different brain regions with 180 curious students at CAM Junior and Senior High School in Battle Ground, WA… Our talented undergrads took charge of the microphone, and engagingly explained the…
The neuroscience of sound chorused with the beauty of classical guitar in a joint, jam-packed NW Noggin sponsored performance at Velo Cult… Elena Mart, a graduate student in Neuroscience at WSU Vancouver worked alongside Ryan Walsh, an acclaimed classical guitarist and student of neuroscience from Portland State, to deliver an entertaining and informative…