An Integrative Brain and Behavior CURE (Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience) Using Immunohistochemistry in the Fighting Fish Betta splendens.

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide a variety of benefits to student learning outcomes. Here we describe an upper-level semester-long CURE that was implemented in Spring 2024 at Amherst College, a small liberal arts college, as part of the NEUR 313: Social Neuroendocrinology course. In the CURE students conducted behavioral and immunohistochemical assays in the fighting fish Betta splendens. Students assessed whether behavioral and neural response differed between fish exposed to social and nonsocial stimuli. The CURE exposed students to a suite of behavioral, wet lab, and data analysis techniques. In addition to completing weekly lab primers, the students' research efforts culminated in a final written paper and oral presentation where students integrated both mechanistic and eco-evolutionary thinking. The CURE was very positively reviewed by the students, and future iterations of the CURE can be easily modified to fit new research topics that further explore biological questions through a neuroethological lens.