Proposal

Narrative

There is a serious imbalance in the laboratory opportunities for students interested in neuroscience between Boca Raton and Jupiter. There are more than 500 students majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior (NS&B), a joint program of Psychology and Biological Science Departments and almost all of the students are based in Boca Raton. However, the majority of FAU neuroscience research opportunities are based in Jupiter. I am proposing to address this imbalance with two courses; a) a new lecture/lab course in neuroscience that will be based in Boca Raton (Genes Neurons and Behavior, BSC4930, 45 students in spring, 2023) and b) a serious up-grade of an existing Course Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that already exists in Boca Raton (Neurophysiology PCB4832, 20 students in spring, 2023). Students involved in these two courses will be provided an overview of the field, introduced to sophisticated electrophysiology methods in the upgraded laboratory and then be guided into REU opportunities. The Project Manager will serve as a guide to various REU programs on both campuses. This project will link many undergraduate programs and Neuroscience and Health Pillars of the FAU strategic plan. Intracellular recording from neurons and muscles is one of the most advanced methods available to neurophysiologists yet we are not training students to use this technology at FAU. Strangely neither the Boca Raton nor the Jupiter facility includes the equipment required for these experiments. This proposal will fill this hole in the lab experience by purchasing the appropriate equipment and teaching students to use it in Boca Raton. The Project Manager has used the proposed equipment and methods to train students in the International Max Planck Research School in Jupiter as well as in courses at Cold Spring Harbor laboratories in New York. Based on this experience I know we can train undergraduates to do the experiments and develop their own projects.

Facilities

A laboratory space is already committed to this effort in the Department of Biological sciences in Boca Raton (Sanson SC118) and will not require renovation. The paradox is that although the neurophysiology lab course (Neurophysiology PCB4832) was initiated in Boca Raton, where the large majority of NS&B students are based, it has fallen into disarray and is reaching very few students. The primary reason for the disarray is the resignation of the previous faculty/program manager who moved to a senior position at Nova Southeastern. The present facility looks like a museum and the equipment is in desperate need of an upgrade. In contrast, the parallel facility in Jupiter has a dedicated faculty member, is well-funded by the Jupiter Life Science Initiative and is a shiny, new, very well-equipped laboratory. It is well-established in Jupiter where it serves a variety of students (n=20, in calendar year 2022) from the Wilkes Honors College and FAU High School but relatively few from the College of Science. The present request will bring high-tech electrophysiology equipment to the Boca campus for the use of the undergraduates in Neuroscience and Behavior as well as other life science majors including; Biology, Medical Biology and Psychology.

Hardware Requirements

The “wetware” for the present project is one of the easiest natural systems available to obtain recordings from single neurons, synapses and circuits – the neural circuits that control escape behavior in the fruit fly Drosophila. The “hardware” required to record from single neurons and muscles in the fly is a stable group of micro-manipulators that carry micro-electrodes and provide a workstation for recording. The proposal will purchase manipulators, high input impedance amplifiers and oscilloscopes for each of five workstations. The manipulators are used to place stimulating and recording microelectrodes in neurons and muscles, and the oscilloscopes and amplifiers for intracellular recording from nerves and muscles. The required stimulators are already available in the facility but the single-cell components of the workstation are not available (see list below). Local faculty including the Project manager are experts in this system and have trained students in a number of contexts and so we know we can train these undergraduates to do the experiments and develop their own projects. One workstation manipulators w/base 9122 2 amplifiers 4102 1 oscilloscope 668 1 picoscope 129 TOTAL/workstation 14021 5 work stations 70105 1 Electrode puller 3683 GRAND TOTAL** 73788 ** see supporting documentation for quotes

Software Requirements

not applicable

Personnel Costs

A Graduate Research Assistant (stipend $10,841)will help set up this program in the first semester (spring, 2023). The GRA who is available for the spring term 2023 is an expert in this project. He has taught the neurophysiology lab course in its present version for many semesters both in Boca and Jupiter. The new high-tech version is the basic equipment he uses for his thesis work so he is very adept at the intracellular recording system. He was also part of the team that taught the International Max Planck Research School students in fall of 2022.

Other Costs

none

Timeline

Start date - spring semester 2023. Repeating each year with as many sections as needed. We will begin with 1 section of BSC4930 (n=45 students) and 2 sections of PCB4832 (n=20) for a total of 65 and expand as indicated below. The proposed equipment could accommodate this number of students in the first year. The two relevant courses (PCB4832/6835 and BSC4930/6936) are both scheduled to run in spring of 2023. Initially we will establish two sections of PCB4832 (with seats for 10/section) and one section of BSC4930/6936 (with seats for 45). Once established we will run the courses as often as the traffic requires and with as many sections as needed. In 2024 we will run 2 sections of 4832 and two sections of BSC4930 for a total of 110. In the third year we could run as many as four sections of 4930 (n=180) and 4 sections of 4832 (n=40) a grand total of 220 students. Once established the courses will run each year in the spring semester. If the demand is great enough we will add sections in the fall semester. Student numbers per semester/year. spring 23 spring 24. spring 25 BSC4930 45. 90. 180 PCB4832 20 20 40 TOTAL 65 110 220

Sustainability

There are two aspects to sustainability of courses like this; 1) the department’s follow-through and 2) the population of students available to fill the class. 1) The present project is enhancing and reinvigorating an ongoing program. With regard to follow through the previous version of the course has been running for a decade and was the model for the Jupiter course. Since this is a request for hardware, the program will last well beyond the duration of the courses we are enhancing. The Department of Biological Sciences has developed a number of other projects that illustrate its commitment to new projects in Life Science such as REU programs, Honors programs and CURE courses that have been sustained for more than a decade. For example, the Nambu REU program was initiated with NSF money and has continued for a decade with FAU funds. Honors programs emerged from the NSF program and have grown into a major part of the Biology Curriculum. 2) The pool of students who would have the prerequisites and would be likely to take this course is very large. As pointed out above there are 500 Neuroscience and Behavior majors and at least that many students in each of three other majors including; Biology, Medical Biology and Psychology. Two courses are the most likely prelude to the present courses; Comparative Animal Behavior (CBH4024 with n=60 in person) and Biological Basis of Behavior (PSB 3002 n=130) both are recommended pre-requisite courses for the project being proposed. A number of other courses will also serve as feeder courses for this project including; Genetics, Genetics Lab, Cell Biology and Human Heredity. The new course (Genes Neurons and Behavior, BSC4930) will take a year or two to develop an audience. However, by combining the audience for the two courses we should be able to quickly develop an audience for the two courses being proposed as well. The long-range objective is that students will be trained to work in research labs in this field.

Resource Matching

Some of the required equipment is already available in the Biology facility in Sanson (see Hardware Requirements). The present request complements the Boca equipment that presently exists and brings the Boca lab up to the standards required for the proposed experiments. In addition, we will work with the Jupiter facility to balance the gear and provide the optimal experience at both sites by exchanging gear to bring the two facilities into parity. For example, as indicated under “hardware” there are NO micromanipulators nor high impedance amplifiers at either site so neither site can do the proposed experiments. I will work with the Director of the Jupiter Life Science Initiative to add these intracellular capabilities to the Jupiter facility. Appropriate exchanges of complementary equipment will bring the two facilities to parity. For example, there are no fluorescence microscopes in the Boca lab but a surplus of them in Jupiter. In addition; The Department of Biological Science will contribute $5000/year for supplies and other minor expenses on the Boca Raton campus.

Implementing Organization

Department of Biological Science