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introtobn.bsky.social
Intro to BN open textbook
@introtobn.bsky.social
Home of Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience textbook. An open educational resource. We promote our own content and other open educational resources in neuroscience.

https://openstax.org/details/books/introduction-behavioral-neuroscience
Spotlight: How do you miss a gorilla in the room? How do you decide to skip the big party so you can study for an exam? These seem like different questions but they are both tied to Attention & Executive function. Learn about it in Ch 19 from author Kevin Wilson!

tinyurl.com/itobnch19
June 11, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I can remember my preschool best friend's birthday but not where I parked my gosh darn car. What's up with that? Memory is weird. And cool! Learn more about it in Ch 18 Learning and Memory by Amy Griffin.

tinyurl.com/ItoBNch18

#Neuroscience
May 30, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Spotlight: Balance is important. From the levels of oxygen in our blood to our caloric intake, maintaining a stable internal environment is critical for our survival. Learn more about this process of Homeostasis in Ch16 by Matt Carter. #neuroscience #homeostasis

tinyurl.com/itobnch16
February 17, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Spotlight: Are you sleeping well nowadays? Sleep is an integral part of our #circadianrhythm. Organisms that don't sleep also show biological rhythms, even bacteria! Learn more in Ch 15 Biological Rhythms & Sleep by @mahoneymeg.bsky.social & @docofclocks.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/itobnc15
February 4, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Spotlight: Drugs can powerfully change the brain. Sometimes this is a medical miracle, relieving pain or anxiety. But too much of any drug can be toxic and some drugs lead to addiction. Learn more in Ch14 Psychopharmacology by Dr. @shivonrobinson.bsky.social!

tinyurl.com/itobnch14
January 27, 2025 at 2:55 PM
We're glad you're finding open resources useful! Fun fact: we at Intro to Behavioral Neuroscience welcome feedback from instructors and students, from anyone really. So spread the word!

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January 23, 2025 at 12:55 PM
We're glad you're finding open resources useful! And if you are using our Intro to Behavioral Neuroscience book, remember there is an Errata button on the title page for your corrections and feedback.

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January 23, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Spotlight: How are you feeling today? Our brains produce a wide range of emotions. Mostly those emotions are adaptive and help us make decisions. But sometimes they are not. Learn more about the #neuroscience of Emotion in Ch 13 Emotion and Mood by Cedric Williams.

tinyurl.com/itobnch13
January 21, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Spotlight: Exams. Deadlines. Traffic. Feeling stressed yet? There is fascinating neuroscience behind stress. And many misconceptions too. Some stress is actually beneficial, for ex. Learn all about it in Ch 12 Stress by S. Muroy, MJ Ko, H Jaques &D Kaufer!
#neuroscience #stress
tinyurl.com/itobnch12
January 15, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Spotlight: Sex is complicated. It depends on genes, hormones and environment. And it is separate from the human construct of gender. Learn about the neuroscience of sex differentiation/differences in Ch11 Sex. Behav. & Devel. by @nduquewilckens.bsky.social
#SABV #neuroscience
tinyurl.com/itobnch11
January 14, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Spotlight: Want to flip like Simone Biles? Or run like Noah Lyles? Well, this chapter won't actually help with that. But, Ch 10 Motor Control by Michael Sandstrom will show you how our brain cooks up motor plans and gets our muscles to execute them! Check it out! #neuroscience

tinyurl.com/itobnch10
January 13, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Spotlight: A welcome hug. Getting hit in the face with a snowball. Burning your tongue on hot coffee. Touch and pain are potent sensory experiences, often with great influence on our emotions. Learn more about it in Ch 9 Touch & Pain by Yuan Bo Peng. #neuroscience

openstax.org/books/introd...
January 9, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Spotlight: Ever noticed that food loses flavor when you have a cold. What's up with that? Your perception of flavor is not one sense. It is a mixing of taste, smell and chemosensation. Read about it in Ch8 Chemical Senses by Joe Zak & @jakesaunders.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/itobnch8

#neuroscience
January 8, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Use of the Michigan histology curricula has grown, with a big uptick during COVID, not surprisingly. They estimate only ~2-3% of users are from the State of Michigan now.
5/n
January 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
The Hortsch article provides some interesting context about how this resource eventually replaced in person instruction at Michigan (where it was developed and integrated in instruction originally). Dwindling student enthusiasm for faculty-led sessions played a big role, and long before COVID.
4/n
January 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Images and instruction span from the area level down to the subcellular. Check out this rabbit motor neuron! Again, the text walks students through what they should be learning and appreciating from the image.
3/n
January 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
The UM Histology website is setup as a series of online courses: for medical, dental and undergrad/grad students. Within each course, it has modules with learning objectives and self-quizzes. Just look at that hippocampus from the ugrad/grad CNS module with accompanying explanatory text!
2/n
January 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Also, for those wanting images of real neurons, we have them a bit further in the chapter than this original diagram (and in Ch 2). But, point taken that we could put images like this closer to the introduction of the neuron diagram and even explicitly address the simplifications in the diagram.
January 5, 2025 at 2:02 PM
We love feedback! This is a great opportunity to highlight the Errata feature. On the title page, at the bottom, is a link to submit corrections and suggestions. We correct small errors regularly and save up bigger stuff for either yearly updates or the 5 year revision to generate a new edition.
January 5, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Special highlight: Open Neuroscience Initiative has a whole chapter on lateralization and language, something we don't have and that has not turned up in the other OERs we have highlighted yet. If you are looking to teach this topic, here is a resource to help with no cost to students!
December 12, 2024 at 3:59 PM
Spotlight: Neurodevelopment brings us from a tube of neural stem cells to our beautiful, folded brain. Learn about the fascinating steps and vulnerabilities of Neurodevelopment in Ch 5 by Briana Pinales, Victoria Castro & Anita Quintana: tinyurl.com/itobnch5
December 9, 2024 at 3:59 PM
Spotlight: Eat the wrong part of a pufferfish and it's bad news. Pufferfish make a toxin that prevents your neurons from being able to send messages. You can learn more about the fascinating world of Neuronal Physiology in Ch 2 by Bob Calin-Jageman @thenewstats.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/itobnch2
November 25, 2024 at 3:37 PM
On oldy but a goody from the old place. We as instructors can often control some of the costs that are foisted onto students. By choosing open educational resources, we can reduce financial barriers to education and make things just a little more equitable.
November 18, 2024 at 7:05 PM