TEACHING RESOURCES
As an educator I believe in the importance of an experiential undergraduate education in order to provide students with the skills and knowledge needed to broadly position them for success following graduation. A key component of this goal is providing materials and opportunities that are accessible, equitable, and engaging for all students. A well-rounded neuroscience education should span theoretical to applied components, allow for hands-on exploration of neural tissue and model systems, provide opportunities for scientific writing and science communication, and to engage in conversation about how intersectionality and current events influence scientific inquiry.
Here, I share resources that I have created (in some cases with inspiration from materials from other psychology/neuroscience educators to whom I am deeply grateful) for my psychology and neuroscience courses. I hope that these resources prove useful for other educators. If you have any questions about any of these materials, please get in touch! Feel free to adapt these educational materials as you see fit and with credit where appropriate. Enjoy!
Laboratory in Behavioral Neuroscience:
Affective Neuroscience
Course Description: A laboratory course that exposes students to modern techniques in neuroscience that can be applied to the study of affective behavior, broadly. Underlying concepts associated with various behavioral, molecular, neuroanatomical, pharmacological, and translational methods will be discussed in a lecture format. Students will apply these concepts and techniques in discussions and laboratory preparations demonstrating how affective processes are organized within the central nervous system of vertebrates. This course will explore using experimental examples how the brain influences behavior, thereby illuminating our understanding of human neuropsychological functioning.
Brain Mounting & Nissl Lab: Students learned how to mount rat brain tissue sections on gelatin-coated slides, and performed a Nissl stain in preparation for learning about and imaging cytoarchitecture.
Neuroanatomy Brain Atlas Assignment: Students practiced their ability to locate brain regions in a stereotaxic atlas, as well as how to image their Nissl brain sections. This assignment also provides an opportunity to do some background research to use empirical research articles to describe the different brain regions involved in affective processing.
Lab 1 - Behavioral Analysis: In this course, students are immersed in my behavioral neuroscience research program and investigate topics that are central to my research interests. This particular semester, we investigated behavioral responses to ultrasonic vocalization playback and how to analyze and interpret their data. This Lab was modeled from ongoing research in the lab that is now published (Bonauto et al., 2025; 2026). Lab packet includes background, instructions, and a grading rubric for a manuscript-style lab report.
Lab 2 - Neural Activity: This lab extended the behavioral experiments by allowing students to work with experimental brain tissue to understand how a specific cell type (parvalbumin) is recruited during ultrasonic vocalization playback in the prefrontal cortex. This Lab was modeled from ongoing research in the lab that is now published (Bonauto et al., 2025; 2026). Lab packet includes background, instructions, and a grading rubric for a manuscript-style lab report that extends Lab Report 1 and also incorporates feedback.
REMOTE SYNCHRONOUS VERSION
NOTE: The below was created for a remote synchronous lab course during the COVID pandemic, but can also be applied to similarly constructed distance-learning models/online courses.
Click on the following links to download PDF versions of materials for labs that were facilitated by sending lab kits (via USPS) to students:
Lab 1- Sheep Brain Dissection: Students were sent an at-home sheep brain dissection kit (Carolina Biological) and provided with this lab packet to supplement the synchronous guided dissection. The lab packet also included instructions and a rubric for completing their dissection lab report. This packet contains some information/content adapted from the following sources: Dr. Krantz Sheep Brain Dissection Guide
*note: labeling error on page 6 of packet - in top diagram there is a label of “Hippocampus (within ventricle)” the arrow should be pointing to the ventricular space, as where the arrow is now is on the Caudate.Lab 3 Part 1: Students were sent at-home rat brain mounting kits to facilitate a remote synchronous bench experience.