All Pods / Neurodegeneration
Neuroscience and Alzheimer's: Learn about modifiable lifestyle factors that increase risk for Alzheimer's disease
Learn about modifiable lifestyle factors that increase risk for Alzheimer's disease
Group size
3-6 students
Outcome
A mock review paper + a final presentation of your selected topic
Tuition
$495
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Neuroscience and Alzheimer's: Learn about modifiable lifestyle factors that increase risk for Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease, impacting over 6 million Americans and ranked as the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. There is no cure for Alzheimer's, and by the time the disease is diagnosed with the emergence of cognitive deficits, irreversible pathological damage in the brain has already occurred over several years. As such, a large area of Alzheimer's research focuses on modifiable lifestyle risk factors that can decrease one's risk for developing the disease. This pod will provide students with neuroscience fundamentals, the basics of Alzheimer's disease, and a deep dive into different modifiable lifestyle risk factors for Alzheimer's prevention. Students will identify a risk factor of their choice, or another Alzheimer's-related topic of interest, and produce a mock review paper and give a final presentation to the pod.
Week by week curriculum
Week 1
We will begin with mentor and student introductions and talk over the 6-week short course structure and content overview, including the curriculum and expectations for a final product. Students will learn some neuroscience fundamentals and receive a brief introduction to Alzheimer's disease, including how the disease impacts the brain, and modifiable lifestyle risk factors for the disease. Students will begin to identify the modifiable lifestyle risk factor that they would like to produce a mock review paper and zoom presentation over for their final project.
Week 2
Students will share their findings from their literature search with the class, and decide which topic they will complete a project over. Students will learn some basics of scientific writing/research including the difference between original research and a review paper, primary vs. secondary sources, steps in writing a review paper, how to conduct a literature search, how to keep track of papers/notes, what makes a good research question, how to avoid plagiarism, and citation formatting and management. Students will receive a lesson on the structure of a scientific review paper. Students will use these lessons to choose a research question and create a detailed outline over their review paper.
Week 3
Students will learn about Alzheimer’s disease in great detail. What do we know about Alzheimer's and what do we not know? Students will learn about milestones in Alzheimer’s disease research progress over the years, symptoms, prevalence and mortality, diagnosis, central pathology, how the disease progresses over time, causes of the disease and genes that are involved, and current treatments and therapies. Students will also engage in discussion over their paper’s research question and outline.
Week 4
Students will learn about ~3 new modifiable lifestyle risk factors and their role in Alzheimer’s disease. Students will engage in discussion over the first half of their papers, and will learn how to finish off a review paper with a proper conclusion.
Week 5
Students will learn about ~3 new modifiable lifestyle risk factors and their role in Alzheimer’s disease. Students will learn how to participate in the peer review process, write an abstract, properly format the References section and in-text citations, and thoroughly edit a review paper to prepare it for submission.
Week 6
Students will give their final presentations to the pod over their chosen topic. Students will engage in discussion over the process of completing their paper and provide feedback over the course.