Applications Open! Enroll for Summer 2027 at 2026 Tuition Pricing Until Sept 30
Explore how the brain shapes thought, emotion, and behavior in this two-week Dartmouth academy for high school students.
Rated 4.4 out of 5 for classroom experience by students who took this course in 2026.
Course Description
Students explore how the brain shapes memory, attention, perception, learning, emotion, decision-making, habits, and mental health. Interactive lectures, case studies, demonstrations, and guest speakers introduce major questions in psychology and cognitive neuroscience.
Hands-on activities make abstract concepts easier to see. Students observe an EEG demonstration, build a neuron, use prism goggles to investigate perception, examine a brain-computer interface, and take part in a sheep brain dissection. Tours of Dartmouth’s greenhouse and sports complex add settings for discussing the connections among environment, performance, and well-being.
The course also examines research ethics and the methods scientists use to study the brain and behavior. Visits, guest lectures, and conversations about careers show how psychology and neuroscience connect with medicine, education, law, child development, and neural disorders.
In small groups, students choose a psychology or cognitive neuroscience topic, research it in greater depth, and create a 12-minute capstone presentation. Peer feedback helps them strengthen both the substance and delivery of their work.
This two-week full-day academy is part of Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars. Students spend the full program focused on one intensive academy. The academy is available to residential and commuter students. Beyond class, students connect focused academic work with campus life, growing independence, and clearer direction about what students may want to study or pursue next. The program is developed and academically led by Dartmouth.
What Will You Do?
• Study memory, attention, perception, learning, emotion, decision-making, and habits
• Observe an EEG demonstration and examine brain-imaging and cognitive-testing methods
• Build a neuron and explore a brain-computer interface
• Use prism goggles to investigate perception
• Participate in a sheep brain dissection
• Learn from Dartmouth researchers and visit campus settings connected with the course
• Research and present a collaborative psychology or neuroscience capstone
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Explain core concepts connecting brain processes with cognition and behavior
• Describe several methods used to study the brain and evaluate ethical questions in research
• Apply psychology and neuroscience concepts in a collaborative capstone presentation
Students leave with hands-on laboratory and demonstration experience, a completed capstone presentation, and clearer direction about psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, medicine, education, or public health.
Why Psychology and Neuroscience Skills Matter
Psychology and cognitive neuroscience help students investigate familiar experiences, such as memory, emotion, attention, perception, and decision-making, with scientific care. Research methods and demonstrations show how questions about the mind can be observed and studied.
Hands-on activities and ethical discussion help students connect brain structures with behavior while recognizing the limits of what any one method can reveal. These skills matter in psychology, neuroscience, medicine, education, public health, cognitive science, law, and any field that relies on accurate explanations of human behavior.
Who Should Attend?
This academy is for high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and are interested in psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, mental health, medicine, education, or human behavior. It is a strong fit for students who want to move beyond popular explanations and examine scientific evidence.
Participants should be ready to join hands-on demonstrations and laboratory activities, discuss research ethics, collaborate on a capstone, and present their work. Curiosity, careful observation, and respectful discussion are especially useful.
Recommended by 9 out of 10 Students
Based on students surveyed in the Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars program (2026)
Why Dartmouth?
Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars gives high school students a concentrated introduction to college-level learning in Hanover, New Hampshire. The program is developed and academically led by Dartmouth. Students explore current ideas through discussion, projects, and sustained work that helps them test an academic interest in depth.
Residential students live in Dartmouth residence halls, eat at 53 Commons, and can join workshops and counselor-supported evening and weekend activities. Time in Hanover and the Upper Valley adds a distinctive New England setting, while the broader experience helps students build independence and clarify what they may want to study next.
Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive