Programme
Photos

A group of 20 Italian teachers participated in the 3-day course that focused on the study of the central nervous system, which is the main area of interest of many groups working at EMBL Monterotondo and the CNR (Italian National Research Council).

Day 1

After an introduction and the presentation of the programme by the organiser, ELLS Education Officer Rossana De Lorenzi, the first scientific seminar by Liliana Minichiello, Group Leader at EMBL Monterotondo, introduced the teachers to the processes of learning and memory formation as well as the different causes of cognitive impairment and disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

Daniela Marazziti, staff scientist at the CNR, Institute of Cell Biology, presented the second seminar illustrating the cellular pathway in the brain responsible for dopamine production and motor coordination, and the defects that cause motor impairment and Parkinson's disease.

The practical activities on the first day were related to the scientific seminars, consisting in a visit to the EMBL Phenotypic Core Facility together with Raffaele Migliozzi (EMBL behavioural technicians). Here the teachers learnt about the behavioural analyses used to test both learning and motor abilities in the mouse. In addition to the behavioural tests, the teachers performed an immuno-histochemistry activity prepared by Daniela Marazziti and Chiara Di Pietro (CNR) that consisted of the microscopic analysis of mouse brain sections to recognise cell types involved in motor coordination and the brain areas that are damaged in Parkinson's patients.

Day 2

The second day started with a theoretical session consisting of two seminars: Luisa Lo Lacono, postdoctoral fellow at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genova (Italy), described the role of serotonin in the brain to determine anxiety levels and the recently discovered connection been between anxiety and development. Silvia Mandillo, researcher at the CNR, illustrated the mechanism of action of several drugs of abuse and the changes that these substances often induce in brain structures.

The afternoon session was dedicated to practical activities related to the seminars. In a first activity, performed at the CNR behavioural unit with the help of Silvia Mandillo and Elisabetta Golini (CNR researchers), the teachers observed how scientists evaluate the effect of drugs of abuse on mice to try to understand their mechanism of action. They also observed tests that scientists use to evaluate anxiety levels in mice.

The second activity was a kit developed by ExploHeidelberg – an interactive center for science education located in Heidelberg – consisting in the genetic analysis of a fictitious family, potentially affected by Huntington's disease.

The teachers prepared the PCR reactions and performed gel electrophoresis in order to determine the size of the DNA fragments, which is an indication of the mutation responsible for Huntington's disease.

Day 3

On the last day Chiara Zuccato, researcher at the University of Milan, presented a seminar illustrating the latest discoveries on Huntington's disease, and the directions that research on the field is taking in order to identify new targets for developing new therapies. In order to stimulate the discussion about the central nervous system in the classroom, the teachers were shortly introduced to the educational game "play DECIDE", a card game aimed at fostering the discussion on difficult topics, such as neuroscience, in different social contexts.

During the course, the teachers received education material, such as booklets published by the European Dana Alliance for the Brain and several copies of the journal Science in School published by EIROforum. In addition, shortly after the course, the teachers received a pendrive containing the slides of the seminar presentations, the course handbook, protocols of the practical activities, as well as additional resources to use in the classroom.