Hi! My name is Caitlyn and I am a PLTW Biomedical Innovations student! I am using a Backyard Brains experiment in my independent project and I would greatly appreciate any feedback you could provide on my project proposal and experiment procedure.
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Thanks for reaching out! Your project sounds interesting and very doable. Using the Backyard Brains Claw is an excellent way to clearly measure changes in neural control pathways. Just be sure to define how you will measure control of the dexterity tests. Are they timed?
To increase your chances of observing clear improvements, I’d suggest choosing a muscle group not typically used for controlling a claw (maybe something like facial or foot muscles rather than the arm). This approach will make changes easier to detect.
You might also consider adding a control group. This group wouldn’t receive Hebbian training but would still do the baseline tests at the beginning and end of your study. This way, you’ll be able to clearly demonstrate if improvements are actually due to the neuroplasticity training, rather than just practice or familiarity with the task.
Good luck—We are happy to help if you have any other questions!
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Thank you so much for the suggestions, I will definitely implement them! For the tests they would all be timed, and I was thinking that they would be cup stacking and placing items, such as a small ball, in a cup.
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