Applied Neuroscience: Nature as your Laboratory

• Explore brain structures using an interactive atlas

• Build and label a neuron model to connect structure with function

• Compare attention and perception through guided demonstrations

• Investigate breathing, sleep and habits through neuroscience research

• Record observations of attention in natural settings

• Develop and present a small-group neuroscience research capstone

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain connections among brain structures, neural processes and behavior

• Evaluate evidence about how environments relate to attention, stress and cognition

• Present a neuroscience research question with evidence and appropriately limited conclusions

You’ll leave with field observations and a group capstone presentation, plus a clearer sense of the neuroscience questions you want to explore in further study.

An observation about concentration or stress can suggest a question, but it cannot establish an explanation on its own. Comparing that observation with research helps students consider what was measured, which factors could influence the result and how strongly the evidence supports a claim.

Models of neurons and brain structures give those questions a biological foundation. Preparing a group presentation adds the task of explaining a complex idea clearly and recognizing its limits. These habits are useful when studying neuroscience, psychology or health, and when assessing everyday claims about the brain and well-being.

For students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade.

If you’re curious about the brain, behavior or how surroundings relate to attention and stress, this academy connects those questions with research and observation. Expect scientific reading, work with models, collaborative discussion and a group capstone presentation.

Students stay in two Appalachian Mountain Club huts reached on foot: Lakes of the Clouds and Mizpah Spring. Hut crews prepare and serve family-style dinner and breakfast. The program provides lunch, which students carry alongside their water and personal gear.

Lakes of the Clouds sits at about 5,050 feet, below Mount Monroe and about a mile from Mount Washington’s summit. It holds 90 guests in rooms of 6 to 15. Mizpah Spring sits at about 3,800 feet near the Crawford Path, between two 4,000-foot peaks, and holds 60 guests in rooms of 4 to 10.

Bunkrooms are coed and may be shared with other hikers. A program staff member stays in every bunkroom that houses students. Rooms have no heat, lights or electrical outlets. Students need a sleeping bag rated for cold nights and a headlamp. Pillows are not supplied; a small personal pillow is optional.

There are no showers. Mizpah has composting toilets and cold-water sinks. Students carry out everything they bring in, including trash and leftover food. Cell service is limited, and weather above treeline can become cold, windy and wet even in July. Students hike between the huts carrying everything they need.

Based on students surveyed in the Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars program (2026)

Students spend their nights in two of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s historic high mountain huts. These are backcountry buildings that can only be reached on foot, and they are staffed by a hut “croo” who cook and serve a family-style dinner and breakfast each day. Lakes of the Clouds Hut, at about 5,050 feet, is the highest and largest hut in the system. It sits just below the summit of Mount Monroe, next to two small alpine lakes, about a mile from the top of Mount Washington. Mizpah Spring Hut sits at 3,800 feet between two 4,000-foot peaks, close to the historic Crawford Path.

Lakes of the Clouds holds 90 guests, in rooms of 6 to 15, and Mizpah holds 60, in rooms of 4 to 10. The bunkrooms are coed and may be shared with other hikers. A member of the program staff stays in every bunkroom where students are housed. The rooms are not heated, and they have no lights and no electrical outlets, so students need a sleeping bag rated for cold nights and a headlamp. Pillows are not provided. Students are welcome to bring a small one, but it’s optional.

The program provides lunch each day, and each student carries their own lunch along with their water and personal gear.

There are no showers. Mizpah has composting toilets and cold-water sinks. Everything carried in, including trash and leftover food, is carried back out. Cell service is limited, and even in July the weather above treeline can turn cold, windy, and wet quickly. Students hike between the huts with everything they need on their backs, and they end each day in a mountain community with hikers from all over the world.