For Students
The Brain Candy Lab has opportunities for those who are interested in neuroscience, children, education, development, or community building. My work is of interest to a wide swath of students, and they go on to a variety of careers. Students who have an interest in the research process would benefit from working in my lab.
Working Opportunities
HEAL-ABCD: Students will be working with existing data (the adolescent brain cognitive development study – ABCD). Most of the work will involve editing r syntax using R studio. For this opportunity, previous lab experience, good working relationships with colleagues, experience with r or other statistical or coding software, attention to detail, interest in childhood adversity is preferred.
SMARTkids: Students will be trained in recruitment and participant engagement, talking to youth and families directly. Students who work well with families will be trained to meet families for consenting and at fMRI center to collect data. Previous lab experience, good working relationships with colleagues, ability to travel to north campus and central campus, previous experience or desire to work with children, previous experience with IRB is preferred but not necessary, attention to detail, interest in childhood adversity is preferred. Most scanning will happen during evenings and weekends (when children are not in school). Availability during those times is important.
SMARTcommunities:
Seniors are encouraged to apply; students with prior experience with children, poverty, and other social services are also encouraged.
We have frequent opportunities for Volunteer Research Assistants, UROP, ROP.
Gain hands-on research experience, experience working with children/vulnerable populations, fMRI experience, grant assistance, coding, surveys, and more.
Learning Opportunities
University of Michigan courses for undergraduates associated with the Brain Candy Lab include:
Psych 440 Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience of Trauma and Stress
Children living with adversity, such as abuse and neglect or extreme poverty, experience repeated exposure to the “fight, flight or flee” response, which is designed to help your body respond to threatening situations in the short term, though for many of these children the exposure is almost constant. These children often miss school, healthcare and nutrition or are exposed to environmental toxins like lead. Each of these have a separate and compounding effect on the brain. This course explores how adversity, trauma exposure and stress influence brain development.
Psych 340 Educational Neuroscience
Education is evolving toward understanding differences in the way people learn, how best to tap into those differences, and how the environment influences human learning and cognition. Understanding how the brain works is central to the way we think about how best to educate people. This course covers topics in how neuroscience informs education and how education changes the developing brain. The study of education involves understanding what motivates learners, how youth develop, what cognitive strategies are best for learning. This course will help you to understand the neuroscience that intersects with education within the subfields developmental, cognitive, social, and clinical neuroscience.
