Greg Gage

Avoiding capture from a fast-approaching predator is an important survival skill shared by many animals.
Investigating the neural circuits that give rise to this escape behavior can provide a tractable demonstration of systems-level neuroscience research for undergraduate laboratories. In this paper, we describe three related hands-on exercises using the grasshopper and affordable technology to bring neurophysiology, neuroethology, and neural computation to life and enhance student… Show more

Avoiding capture from a fast-approaching predator is an important survival skill shared by many animals.
Investigating the neural circuits that give rise to this escape behavior can provide a tractable demonstration of systems-level neuroscience research for undergraduate laboratories. In this paper, we describe three related hands-on exercises using the grasshopper and affordable technology to bring neurophysiology, neuroethology, and neural computation to life and enhance student understanding and interest. Show less

The introduction of affordable, consumer-oriented 3-D printers is a milestone in the current “maker movement,” which has been heralded as the next industrial revolution. Combined with free and open sharing of detailed design blueprints and accessible development tools, rapid prototypes of complex products can now be assembled in one’s own garage—a game-changer reminiscent of the early days of personal computing. At the same time, 3-D printing has also allowed the scientific and engineering… Show more

The introduction of affordable, consumer-oriented 3-D printers is a milestone in the current “maker movement,” which has been heralded as the next industrial revolution. Combined with free and open sharing of detailed design blueprints and accessible development tools, rapid prototypes of complex products can now be assembled in one’s own garage—a game-changer reminiscent of the early days of personal computing. At the same time, 3-D printing has also allowed the scientific and engineering community to build the “little things” that help a lab get up and running much faster and easier than ever before. Show less

The earthworm is ideal for studying action potential conduction velocity in a classroom setting, as its simple linear anatomy allows easy axon length measurements and the worm's sparse coding allows single action potentials to be easily identified. The earthworm has two giant fiber systems (lateral and medial) with different conduction velocities that can be easily measured by manipulating electrode placement and the tactile stimulus. Here, we present a portable and robust experimental setup… Show more

The earthworm is ideal for studying action potential conduction velocity in a classroom setting, as its simple linear anatomy allows easy axon length measurements and the worm's sparse coding allows single action potentials to be easily identified. The earthworm has two giant fiber systems (lateral and medial) with different conduction velocities that can be easily measured by manipulating electrode placement and the tactile stimulus. Here, we present a portable and robust experimental setup that allows students to perform conduction velocity measurements within a 30-min to 1-h laboratory session. Our improvement over this well-known preparation is the combination of behaviorally relevant tactile stimuli (avoiding electrical stimulation) with the invention of minimal, low-cost, and portable equipment. We tested these experiments during workshops in both a high school and college classroom environment and found positive learning outcomes when we compared pre- and posttests taken by the students. Show less

The cricket can serve as a reliable invertebrate model to teach the basic concepts of neurophysiology in the educational laboratory. In this manuscript, we describe a series of hands-on, demonstrative, technologically simple, and affordable laboratory activities that will help undergraduate students gain an understanding of the principles of neurophysiology. By using the cerci ganglion and leg preparation, students can quantify extracellular neural activity in response to sensory stimulation… Show more

The cricket can serve as a reliable invertebrate model to teach the basic concepts of neurophysiology in the educational laboratory. In this manuscript, we describe a series of hands-on, demonstrative, technologically simple, and affordable laboratory activities that will help undergraduate students gain an understanding of the principles of neurophysiology. By using the cerci ganglion and leg preparation, students can quantify extracellular neural activity in response to sensory stimulation, understand the principles of rate coding and somatotopy, perform electrical microstimulation to understand the
threshold of sensory stimulation, and do pharmacological manipulation of neuronal activity. We describe the utility of these laboratory activities, provide a convenient protocol
for quantifying extracellular recordings, and discuss feedback provided by undergraduate students with regards to the quality of the educational experience after performing the lab activities.
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Here we describe a low-cost, rapid, controlled and uniform fixation procedure using 4% paraformaldehyde perfused via the vascular system: through the heart of the rat to obtain the best possible preservation of the brain.

We are pleased to announce that our manuscript formally describing the SpikerBox development, four experiments, and some classroom is available on PLoS ONE. Notably, this journal does not charge to view articles, so people anywhere around the world can download, read, use, and critique the work free of charge. How is this possible? The publication fees are supported by the scientific community. In our case, we subsidized the publication through a Kickstarter Project with the generous help of 53… Show more

We are pleased to announce that our manuscript formally describing the SpikerBox development, four experiments, and some classroom is available on PLoS ONE. Notably, this journal does not charge to view articles, so people anywhere around the world can download, read, use, and critique the work free of charge. How is this possible? The publication fees are supported by the scientific community. In our case, we subsidized the publication through a Kickstarter Project with the generous help of 53 backers. We champion open science hardware and public access to science, so it was especially rewarding for us to to publish, after peer review, this crowd-sourced, open-access, open-source hardware manuscript. Read away fellow colleagues! Show less

We provide useful information for surgeons who are learning the process of implanting chronic neural recording electrodes. Techniques for both penetrating and surface electrode systems are described in a rodent animal model.

Striatal fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs) normally have diverse behavioral correlates ► FSI population shows a coordinated firing increase as rats initiate a chosen action ► Coordination of FSI firing may be due to divergent pallidostriatal projection ► Striatal FSIs do not produce constant strong inhibition of projection cells

Here we investigate whether neural control can be accomplished in
situations where (1) subjects have not received prior motor training to control the device (naıve user) and (2) the neural encoding of movement parameters in the cortex is unknown to the prosthetic device (naıve controller). By adopting a decoding strategy that identifies and
focuses on units whose firing rate properties are best suited for control, we show that naıve subjects mutually adapt to learn control of a neural… Show more

Here we investigate whether neural control can be accomplished in
situations where (1) subjects have not received prior motor training to control the device (naıve user) and (2) the neural encoding of movement parameters in the cortex is unknown to the prosthetic device (naıve controller). By adopting a decoding strategy that identifies and
focuses on units whose firing rate properties are best suited for control, we show that naıve subjects mutually adapt to learn control of a neural prosthetic system. This study demonstrates that subjects can learn to generate neural control signals that are well suited for use with external devices without prior experience or training. Show less