Introduction: Launch Lesson

• Axon - Long extension of a neuron that carries its informational output to the next cell or target.
• Brain - The command center of the body, located inside the skull, and is responsible for information processing and controlling many other systems and parts of the body.
• Central Nervous System - Made up of the brain and the spinal cord, whereas the peripheral nervous system is all the nerves (axons) that extend throughout the body.
• Cerebral Cortex - The wrinkly outer layer on the surface of the brain.
• Dendrites - Extensions of a neuron where it receives information from other neurons.
• Genes - The smallest heritable unit of DNA, passed from parent to child.
• Gyri - The bumps on the surface of the brain (singular = gyrus).
• Hemisphere - One half of the brain (left or right side).
• Neuron – Special type of cell in the body that has a unique structure (containing extensions including an axon and dendrites) and which transmits signals throughout the nervous system.
• Nervous System - The system that coordinates the interaction of the body with the world around it, integrating incoming sensory information, processing and sending information, and commanding the body to respond or move. This system includes the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves in the other tissues of the body.
• Spinal Cord - Long bundle of axons (long extensions of neurons) connecting the brain to the body.
• Sulci - The grooves or crevices on the surface of the brain (singular = sulcus).

To introduce the Neuroscience & Society Curriculum and this introductory lesson, tell students:

This Neuroscience & Society curriculum will cover many topics about the brain, including brain anatomy, current research and methods on neuroscience, addiction, mental health and wellness, brain development, law and criminology, and future neuro-technology. In this course, we want to explore brain science and how it affects our lives and the decisions we make today. This curriculum also touches on how societal factors like drugs, socioeconomic status, relationships, and law affect the brain. To begin building our understanding of neuroscience and society, let’s investigate some brain myths and facts and what you may already know about the brain!

Guide students through the following Myth or Fact Activity to help them access any previous knowledge they are bringing to the table. (Adapted from The Brain: Our Sense of Self, The Mind’s Machine, and Neuroscience for Dummies)

1. Post (or read aloud) each of the myths from the table below on the board and ask students to guess if it is a myth or a fact.
2. Provide the fact from the right column once students guess if it is a myth or fact. You may want to sprinkle in some facts or just only provide myths.
3. After discussing each myth, ask students to reflect and share out:
   • What myths surprised you the most?
   • Where do you think some of these myths come from?

Explain the following background information to students to frame the following activity:

Brain science pops up in many spheres of our lives. A good way to gauge students’ familiarity with different aspects of brain science – and to surface potential misconceptions they may hold – is to have them brainstorm what they may have heard and what they are curious about.
 

The discussion below is the first of many opportunities in this curriculum to connect to students’ personal values and experiences, so you may want to begin by setting some discussion norms with your class in this intro lesson. You can use the a set of norms below as a guide:
 

Norms for discussion:

• Respect others’ opinions and ideas
• No interruptions – one person talks at a time
• Listen carefully to what others have to say
• It’s ok to disagree with others
• Respect others’ experiences and backgrounds
• Take part in the discussion
• Give everyone a chance to speak
• Keep your comments on point to the conversation

After setting discussion norms, complete the following activity with your students to get their brains thinking about neuroscience and what they may already know:

• Start with open ended prompts to students about each of the curriculum units you may choose to cover: What have you heard about…? What do you wonder about…?
• Below are some autocomplete predictions from Google Search to spark additional ideas. Encourage students to build off of each other’s ideas, but note that the goal of this activity is to elicit prior knowledge and relevant connections, not to provide answers to the questions below or other questions that may arise.
   

Each “Explain” section in this curriculum is meant to be teacher-facing and can be utilized to teach students new information in whatever format works best for you and your students.

Key Points:

• The brain and nervous system provide connectivity for communication and control throughout the body.
• The cerebral cortex (outer brain tissue) can be divided into sections or lobes that serve different brain functions.
• Genes are the basic blueprints for how the body is built and how cells function—including in the brain.
• Genes and environment interact to influence how an individual’s brain develops: both “nature” and “nurture” matter.

The Control Center of the Body

The brain is a complex organ that is involved in nearly every process that makes our bodies work. The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves branching out through the rest of the body—some of these nerve cells are more than 3 feet long. But the brain is the central hub of activity. It’s built from about 86 billion cells called neurons, and each neuron can connect with thousands of other neurons, making trillions of connections in the brain. The functional purpose of all this connectivity is computation. For example, ideas (e.g., a cat) are links between visual images, sound information (meow), motor responses (petting), memories (your childhood cat) and other aspects of the idea of a cat, all using different but connected parts of the brain.

Although the brain may appear to be a nondescript wrinkly mass from the outside, there are many levels of organization. The bumps (gyri) and grooves (sulci) on the exterior surface are formed as the cerebral cortex, or outer brain tissue, folds into the skull. The cerebral cortex can be divided up into sections or lobes, as seen in the image below. These divisions are based on function; neurons in certain places have specific jobs.

Image

The main part of the brain is divided up into 4 main sections or lobes, based on physical landmarks and the functions or roles of each brain area. Image credit: BioRender.com

​​​​​Down at the microscopic level of the brain, we can also see that neurons come in all shapes and sizes, as shown in the image below. Neurons are shaped in such a way so as to be able to make lots of connections with other cells, which makes sense as their function is to communicate with each other. All of this activity is hard work! Although the brain makes up 5% of your body mass, it consumes 20% of its energy. This is because sending signals, helping neurons recover, and then getting ready to send the next set of signals requires a tremendous amount of energy compared to other organs. More information about neurons and brain structure and function is covered in Unit 1 on Neurons and Anatomy.

Image

In many organs of the body, the cells within each organ look similar, as they perform similar functions. Neurons come in all shapes and sizes, as seen on the right, and perform a variety of functions. Image credit: BioRender.com

Genetics as a Foundation
As students begin to explore the connections between neuroscience and society, it’s important to remember that genes and the environment both play significant roles in influencing brain development. Genes provide the basic blueprints for brain development. They encode the instructions for building and organizing the brain's structure and its various components. Genetic factors determine the initial formation of neurons, neural connections, and neural networks. They also influence the timing and sequence of developmental events in the brain. However, genes also contribute to individual differences in brain structure and function. Certain genetic variations have been associated with increased susceptibility to neurodevelopmental disorders.

Beyond the genetic blueprints, the environment shapes our brains in many ways that will be explored throughout the curriculum units. Factors such as nutrition, social interactions, environmental resources, learning, and trauma all impact how our brains develop and change over time. A foundational understanding of genetics is helpful for understanding how genes and the environment interact across the lifespan. More information about genetics in the context of brain development is included in Unit 4, Lesson 3.
 

Explain the following background information to students to frame the following activity:
Most of us are familiar with the fact that we inherit certain traits from our parents. Physical traits are most certainly inherited, but what about traits that relate to the brain? Personality? Temperament? Anxiety?​

Guide students through a nature vs nurture discussion using the steps below:

1. Start by asking students these probing question:
   • Have you ever heard of “nature vs. nurture?” What do you think it means?
   • Do you think “nature” or “nurture” has a stronger influence on a person’s traits?
2. Explain that some traits develop due to your genes, nature, and some develop due to your experiences, nurture.
3. Have students share out and create a list on the board of some traits that they think are more influenced by “nature” (e.g. eye color) and traits that are more influenced by “nurture,”(e.g. what language you speak), and traits that seem to be influenced by both (e.g. height or weight).
   Alternatively, have a pre-made list of traits and ask students to discuss or vote on/discuss which traits they think are genetic, which are environmental, and which are both.
   • See a list of some observable human traits at the Learn.Genetics page.
   • Be aware of these common myths about human traits.