In 2020 universities had to quickly implement remote education alternatives as a result of the social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To keep students engaged with the university, we implemented a teaching-learning model that relates physiology contents to the COVID-19 pandemic using online educational platforms. A 1-mo web course was proposed for health sciences students from the Federal University of Pampa. It included synchronous meetings twice a week and asynchronous activities using scientific articles, case studies, and interactive online tools. The students approved the methodology developed, assessing it as dynamic and innovative. They reported that the activity helped to better understand the relations between COVID-19 and physiological systems. The web course also contributed to the identification of reliable sources of news and stimulated the sharing of scientific content with their families. We concluded that the use of online platforms contextualizing the physiology content considering current events helps students in learning human physiology and improves their abilities to apply this information to their daily life, in this specific case, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Background The preventive role of muscular strength on diminishing neuroinflammation is yet unknown. In this study, the role of the prophylactic muscular strength exercise was investigated in order to verify whether it would diminish cognitive alterations and modify the antioxidant intracellular scenery in an animal neuroinflammatory model in of the CA1 region of the hippocampus. Methods The animals received muscular strength training (SE) three times a week for eight weeks. Subsequently, the stereotaxic surgery was performed with an intra-hippocampal infusion of either saline solution (SAL) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Next, we performed the behavioral tests: object recognition and social recognition. Then, the animals were euthanized, and their hippocampus and prefrontal cortex were collected. In another moment, we performed the dosage of the antioxidant activity and histological analysis. Results The results showed that the muscular strength exercises could show a beneficial prophylactic effect in the cognitive deficiencies caused by acute neuroinflammation. Regarding oxidative stress, there was an increase in catalase enzyme activity (CAT) in the group (SE + LPS) compared to the control groups (p < 0.05). As for the cognitive alterations, there were found in the (SE + LPS) group, diminishing the mnemonic hazard of the discriminative and social memories compared to the control groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion We concluded, therefore, that the exercise performed prophylactically presents a protective effect capable of minimizing such mnemonic deficits and increasing catalase enzyme activity in rats that suffered a local neuroinflammatory process in the hippocampus.

“Basic Concepts in Neurophysiology” was a 3-wk online course developed during six synchronous meetings combined with asynchronous activities. We proposed an active learning course that used free online platforms to teach physiology during a period in which undergraduates were not in classrooms or taking online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Herein, we report the course organization and the students’ involvement in, acceptance of, and evaluation of the course. To address the students’ perceptions about these points, we sent a questionnaire to 49 participants who finished the course. We found that although most students (52.5%) had never taken a course with similar methods before, almost all of them (95%) liked the flipped class model. Additionally, a majority of the students (92.5%) said that the method increased their study frequency during the social distancing period, which is an important aspect to consider during this challenging time for both students and professors.

During the neonatal period, the brain is susceptible to external influences. Exposure to stressful events during this phase of life influences brain development and impacts adult life. In animals, the maternal deprivation (MD) model is effective in mimicking stress in the early stages of development. In contrast, physical exercise seems to be able to prevent deficits in memory consolidation. Although the effects of chronic exercise in cognition are already well established, little is known about the effects of acute aerobic exercise. Here, male Wistar rats divided into deprived (MD) and nondeprived (NMD) rats were submitted to the object recognition (OR) memory test. Immediately after OR training, some of the rats were submitted to a single aerobic exercise session for 30 minutes. Memory consolidation and persistence were evaluated by retention tests performed 24 h and 7, 14, and 21 days after OR training. We show that a single physical exercise session is able to modulate learning by promoting memory consolidation and persistence in rats with cognitive deficits induced by MD. Hippocampal dopamine levels, measured by HPLC, were not altered after OR training in rats that performed and in rats that did not perform an exercise session; on the other hand, while OR training promoted increase of hippocampal norepinephrine in NMD rats, the MD rats did not present this increase, regardless of the practice or not of exercise.

Antioxidant supplementation and physical exercise have been discussed as strategies to minimize neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We investigated the neuroprotective effects of strength exercise (StrEx) and green tea (GT) supplementation either combined or isolated on memory impairments induced by a β‐amyloid characterizing an AD‐like condition. Wistar male rats were submitted to 8 weeks of StrEx or GT supplementation or its combination. AD was induced by injection of Aβ (25–35) in the hippocampus. We evaluate object recognition (OR) and social recognition (SR) memory, and then hippocampus was removed for biochemical analysis. StrEx improved OR and SR memory. StrEx combined with GT improved OR memory and did not improve SR memory. GT alone decreased antioxidant capacity and improved acetylcholinesterase activity. Both strength exercise or green tea are effective against cognitive impairments resultant of β‐amyloid but benefits do not add up when the two interventions are associated. Support or Funding Information National Council for Scientific and Technological Development of Brazil

Understanding how the brain function to promote learning shouldn't just be interesting to neuroscientists, but especially to teachers. From the moment that teachers understand the processes of learning and memory, this knowledge can help their teaching practice. Here, we report the 10th edition of the course "Neuroscience Applied to Education", offered online in the pandemic period of 2021, in Brazil. The course featured classes on eight neuroscience topics, taught by expert professors. The course had the participation of schoolteachers, most of them teaching children aged between 6-14 years old. Teachers stated that their perception of basic neuroscience knowledge improved after completing the course. They believed that the specific neuroscience topics related to education and teaching practice will have the greatest impact on their professional performance. Teachers evaluated the very well course, and the topics discussed generated debate and interest from the professors.