Hi, a synopsis of a recent neuroscience journal paper that has been presented in popular media. Please make sure you choose a neuroscience article and that the findings you write about includes a neurological measure (a brain scan, a brain chemical, a genetic manipulation, etc). Media assignments that do not include neuroscience results will not be graded. Several videos have been posted online that expands and explains this assignment in more detail.

You will be required to write a synopsis of a recent neuroscience journal paper that has been presented in popular media. Please make sure you choose a neuroscience article and that the findings you write about includes a neurological measure (a brain scan, a brain chemical, a genetic manipulation, etc). Media assignments that do not include neuroscience results will not be graded. Several videos have been posted online that expands and explains this assignment in more detail. Your synopsis should read as a continuous narrative and should include three main paragraphs. Please pay attention to sentence limits included below: 1. Summary of the scientific paper (1-2 paragraphs). This should include: a. The purpose of the study (1-2 sentence) b. A brief description of the participants in the study (1-2 sentences) c. A brief statement of the methods used (2-5 sentences). Should include: i. Explicitly identification of the type of study – Experimental or Nonexperimental ii. Explicitly identification of the variables involved 1. If experimental, identify independent variable(s) and dependent variable(s) 2. If non-experimental, identify variables measured d. The findings (1-3 sentences) e. The authors conclusions (1-2 sentences) 2. Critique of scientific paper: A critical assessment of the scientific methods used in the approach, experiment, etc. for the scientific paper (One paragraph). 3. A comparison of the scientific paper with the mainstream media article. Include at least three SPECIFIC examples from each article and implications for how these differences might impact different readers (One paragraph). After this continuous narrative, include: 1. For the mainstream article, specify the a. newspaper, magazine or electronic media b. the journalist(s) c. the date. 2. For the scientific article, give an APA-style reference. For help, see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/07/ 3. The authors’ affiliations for the scientific paper. After this, attach: 1. A hard copy of the mainstream article 2. A hard copy of the scientific article Other important stuff: • The pair of articles you use to write this paper must have been published in the last 6 months. • A rubric is posted on the course website. It specifies how points are rewarded for this assignment. • Most studies have a lot of variables or even multiple studies. You should choose to limit the variables or studies you write about in your paper. If you do this, make sure: 1) You include a neurological measure in the information you write about 2) The information you present is consistent with the overall purpose of the study 3) The information you include is internally consistent. For example, if you describe Variable X as your dependent variable, you should include Variable X in your findings. Similarly, if you describe Variable Y in your findings, you should include Variable Y in your identification of the variables. Also, the conclusions you write about should make sense in light of the results you write about. • Please pay attention to sentence limits. Part of the goal of this assignment is to determine if you can present only that information that is critical for answering the questions being asked of you. • Please do not use direct quotes from any of the articles. • Finding a pair of articles: This assignment requires you find two articles. First you should find a mainstream media article that describes a recent neuroscience discovery (Example this Science Daily article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131217155333.htm). After you find this mainstream article, you should find the scientific article that it is based on (For our Science Daily article, there is a link to the scientific article right on their webpage: http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v16/n11/full/nn.3533.html). o The full scientific article is required. Do not just attach the abstract. You should not be able to complete this assignment without the full article. o You will have access to more free articles if you use a computer from an educational institution (a computer on campus) • Review articles and metaanalyses are not appropriate for this assignment. Do not use them. • I will be available to read drafts, but the drafts must be physically printed out. I will not read drafts sent via email.