Backyard Brains OpenLab Series 2/5: Catch an Action Potential!

We continue the Backyard Brains OpenLab workshop cycle (December 10, 15, 17, 18, and 22)! In this session, you will see and hear the nervous system in action. We will enter the world of individual nerve impulses—the fastest and most fundamental electrical messages your brain uses to communicate.

Science Through Practice

Here, you become a true laboratory researcher. Using the Neuron SpikerBox, you will perform precise micromanipulations to isolate a single neuron. Your task will be to “catch” spikes (nerve impulses) and experiment live: blowing on sensors, using bright light, or touching an insect’s legs to provoke a storm of electrical activity—listening as silence transforms into the characteristic crackling sound of neural communication.

What You Will Learn

• What an action potential is—how it is generated, how it travels, and how it changes
• How the Backyard Brains Neuron SpikerBox works
• How to correctly place electrodes and identify “quiet” and “active” neurons
• What real nerve impulses (spikes) look like and how to record them
• How touch, light, or chemical stimuli change a neuron’s firing rhythm
• How sensory systems operate through changes in electrical activity

Why Join?

This is a rare opportunity to observe and record real neural signals live—an experience typically found only in university laboratories. You will gain an understanding of what the “language” of the nervous system truly looks like, and why action potentials and spikes are the foundation of all neurophysiology. If you want to dive deeper into neuroscience and witness phenomena usually hidden behind microscopes and oscilloscopes, this workshop offers a direct and exciting way to do so.

About the Instructor

The workshop is led by Aleksa Vasić, M.Sc. in Biology. As a science communicator, Aleksa combines biology, neuroscience, and technology to bring modern scientific discoveries closer to the public. Through practical demonstrations, he shows how the electrical signals that control our bodies can be observed, measured, and interpreted using simple tools.

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