Backyard Brains Neuron SpikerBox: Neuroscience in a Box

When I was a kid in the 1950s, parents tried to encourage kids to become junior scientists by giving them Chemistry Sets. Today,so many brain-related diseases are killing us - not to mention costing us a fortune. Shouldn't we be encouraging kids to take an interest in studying the brain? Here's a clever way to get them started. Backyard Brains SpikerBox is enough fun to seem like an awesome (and awesomely gross!) toy to a young person, but it's serious science in a box. If you're looking for the perfect gift for your smartest nieces and nephews, this is a doozy. Please get the SpikerBox for those bright youngsters NOW because the clock is ticking. I desperately want a new young army of brain researchers to figure out how to cure Alzheimer's before I'm diagnosed with it.

Most science "toys" assume that children just aren't that bright - this is the kind of thing I dreamed of as a kid and wished I could get my hands on. I am buying it for all the kids I know know for Christmas.

This is not a toy - it is a scaled down version of the kind of expensive equipment that a scientist would use to monitor the activity of the nervous system. I am a neuroscientist, and I purchased two SpikerBoxes. Individually they allow my undergraduate students to hear neurons firing. Paired with a computer (and some free software such as Audacity) or with an iphone (and a free app from Backyard Brains) the SpikerBoxes allow my students to see neural impulses. When "piggy-backed" with a simple adapter kit available from the makers the two SpikerBoxes serve as a two-channel differential amplifier that (when coupled with a computer) allows the speed of neural signals to be measured. I have successfully recorded action potentials ("spikes") from cockroaches, adult meal worms, and earthworms. There is considerable discussion about whether these invertebrates feel pain, or anything else for that matter. (Yes, they react to various stimuli, but whether they have any subjective experience that might be called "feeling" is very difficult to determine.) The makers of the SpikerBox are sensitive to this, and encourage the anesthetization of the invertebrates as they are prepared for use. I agree with this approach, and urge adults to review the proposed methods of anesthetization (ice water, alcohol, or even soda water) and oversee the use of the device by children. Used properly, the SpikerBox will not only teach people about the nervous system, but it will also encourage respect for, and the proper treatment of, nonhuman animals used for research. All in all, a great product that might lead more students into neuroscience.

We bought this product for our son to do science experiment. It helped my son to understand core principles of neuroscience easily. We are happy to get this kind of practical exposure at a reasonable cost and when we had questions backyardbrains cofounder Greg helped us with answers quickly and very approachable. we would recommend this anyone who has interest in NeuroScience

This is a totally amazing product - the first comercially available cyborg - in a kit! I'm suitably impressed. As a toy, it's got some great educational value. As a research tool - wow, what a steal. I think everyone should give this a go.