Welcome to MDCUNE: Free Neuroscience Labs

The goal of this project is to create a series of completely digital, inquiry-based laboratory modules in neuroscience and to make them freely accessible to students and faculty at a wide range of institutions.  This project will give students a truly rich, hands-on introduction to neuroscience research while requiring no equipment or facilities other than computers connected to the internet.  The digital and modular nature of these materials provides for a great deal of flexibility in teaching and delivery.

For more specific information about this project see the following article:

• "Modular Digital Course in Undergraduate Neuroscience Education (MDCUNE): A Website Offering Free Digital Tools for Neuroscience Education" - by William Grisham from the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education (JUNE)

Swimmy

Free and complete software providing experience with neurophysiological phenomena and mechanisms of motor pattern generation in virtual neural circuits.  Student manuals also provided. 

-Requires Windows-

See the Swimmy Section for more information.

Please direct any questions or comments to mdcune.ucla@gmail.com.

RatSCIA (Rat Spinal Cord Image Archive)

Image library of spinal cord motoneurons for analyzing sex differences and effects of prenatal antiandrogens on these neurons.  Includes a PDF of an article describing the use of this image library (Grisham, W., Jones, H. B., & Park, S. H. (2003).  Sex Differences and Organizational Effects of Androgen in Spinal Cord Motor Nuclei.  Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, 2(1) A29-A36).  Also provided are links to free image analysis tools.

See the RatSCIA Section for more information.

Please direct any questions or comments to mdcune.ucla@gmail.com.

Bioinformatics/Neuroinformatics

Image library, student manual, and links to resources to quantify brain phenotype and perform a Quantitative Trait Locus analysis linking variation in the phenotype with chromosomal loci. 

See the Bioinformatics Section for more information.

Please direct any questions or comments to mdcune.ucla@gmail.com.

Bird Song Sytem

Image library of songbird nuclei—Area X, HVC, and RA—allowing comparisons examining sex differences and effects of various doses of estrogen given to females in posthatch development. 

Developing in 2010 but links to quantification software available now. 

See the Bird Song System Section for more information.

Please direct any questions or comments to mdcune.ucla@gmail.com.

Fraidy Rat    *** IN DEVELOPMENT ***

Free and complete software providing experience with the anatomical and physiological bases of fear learning in a computer-simulated rat. 

-Requires Windows-

See the Fraidy Rat Section for more information.

Please direct any questions or comments to mdcune.ucla@gmail.com.

Neuroscience Camp     *** IN DEVELOPMENT ***

An introduction to neuroscience through a series of short modules and experiments.  For select high school students. 

See the Neuroscience Camp Section for more information.

Please direct any questions or comments to mdcune.ucla@gmail.com.