Signal

Build a functioning synapse so that Neuron 1 can signal to Neuron 2

The game board features Neuron 1 & Neuron 2, and the Signal card deck includes proteins and molecules you will need to create your synapse. Both neurons have all necessary organelles and a phospholipid membrane. But they need you to fill the blank boxes with game cards to give both neurons the structure they need to send a signal!

The game includes the Signal game board, 49 Signal cards (featuring relevant proteins & molecules) and 15 Info cards (providing short descriptions of all 15 Signal card types).

Perfect for undergraduate neuroscience learning! Use it in 100-200 level courses to help students learn the concepts & in 300-400 level courses as a review exercise. Or hold back the Info cards and make it an assessment! Also useful in high school classrooms & for outreach events!

Comments from 200-level undergraduate students at UNC Asheville who played Signal as an assessment activity in Spring 2022:

• “This activity really helped me connect all of my previous knowledge into one comprehensive schema”
• “Loving the learning-based games that have real production quality!”
• “I really appreciate the effort you put into creating attractive learning materials and engaging assignments.”
• “I really liked this learning activity. It helped me visualize the pre and post synaptic transmissions.”
• “Unexpected treat. I am glad I didn't know ahead of time as my studying for a traditional exam helped when playing the game.”
• “This game was so much fun! It’s so much easier to remember things and put them together on the game than on a paper for a test.”

Signal was created & designed by Dr. Angel Kaur, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at UNC Asheville. Dr. Kaur has published and presented on game-based learning in the neuroscience classroom.

The first edition of this game is also available as a digital interactive. You can also share this link with students to allow them to use the game as a study tool!

Learn more about Signal in a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education.