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Measuring Brain Wave Activity in High School Students through Biopac Science Lab
Author(s) -
Pawlak Robert,
Evans LeVisa,
Andreasen Nicholas,
Anthis Taylor,
Gurovich Alvaro N
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.lb750
Subject(s) - construct (python library) , brain function , function (biology) , psychology , physiology , mathematics education , computer science , neuroscience , medicine , biology , programming language , evolutionary biology
The American Physiology Society (APS) has made it a goal to increase the understanding of physiology and promote careers in physiology. One of the APS initiatives that engages students is Physiology Understanding Week (PhUn). In this year's project, we used the Biopac MP40 system to measure brain function across high schoolers at South Vermillion High School in Clinton, IN. The activity was divided into 2 different days reaching 47 high schoolers taking two advanced anatomy and physiology classes. During the first day, 6 Biopac MP40 were available to both classes and 4 students per system collected data measuring brain function during 4 different conditions. The 4 conditions tested for brain function were 1) resting with eyes closed, 2) resting with eyes open, 3) sing a song in their head with eyes closed, and 4) read and solve a riddle. The second day, students analyzed the collected data and presented their main findings. The goal was to quantify the change in brain function when the difficulty of tasks is increased. While one student was tested other students gave commands and recorded data for alpha, beta, and delta waves. This data was then taken to construct charts so that the students could analyze the data for themselves. This activity helped the students apply their knowledge of neuro‐physiology to draw conclusion while expanding their knowledge of the brain. This interactive method enabled students to be more involved in their studies while taking an interesting new approach to physiology: a ‘PhUn’ approach. Support or Funding Information Supported by IU AHEC 15/16 #PIU535 and APS PhUn week program