Neuroscience Institute

Wake Forest students participate in Project Pumpkin, a volunteer service project that brings children from local schools on campus for Halloween, on Hearn Plaza on Thursday, October 28, 2010. Greg Alberto ('11) gives anatomy lessons about the human brain.

Learn about Neuroscience!

From the molecular to the philosophical – explore how the brain develops, functions, and learns.

Neuroscience is an exciting and rapidly growing interdisciplinary field encompassing the study of the nervous system and its role in regulating behavior. Students will examine the structure of the brain through hands-on dissection, learn how drugs affect the brain and how sensory systems detect stimuli in the environment, visit active neuroscience labs, and conduct exciting neuroscience experiments.

At a Glance


**Waitlists have been implemented for the summer 2023 Neuroscience Institutes. Students may still apply or register for different institute sessions.

2023 Dates: June 11-16 or June 18-23

Program Length: Sunday – Friday

Who Can Apply?: Current 9th – 12th grade students

Overnight Tuition: $3,000

Location: Winston-Salem, NC – Wake Forest University Campus

Overnight or Day: Overnight Program

*Courses carry no secondary school or college credit. Upon completion of the program, an official Wake Forest University Certificate of Completion will be awarded to all Neuroscience Institute participants.


What You’ll Experience

Topics Covered:

  • Neuroanatomy
  • Neurobiology
  • Behavioral Neuroscience
  • Neuropharmacology
  • Electrophysiology

Hands-On Experiences:

  • Explore neuroanatomy through the dissection of a sheep brain
  • Observe electrophysiological experiments 
  • Research and present neuroscience poster project
  • Visit neuroscience labs, fMRI, and MEG
  • Field trip to the Nonhuman Primates & Large Animal Research Center

*Hands-on experiences are subject to change.


Neuroscience Institute Cost

Overnight | $3,000

Wake Forest biology professor Wayne Silver teaches his neurology lab in Winston Hall on Wednesday, September 28, 2011.

A Day in the Life

  • 8:00 am – Morning Meeting and Breakfast
  • 9:00 am – Welcome and Program Introduction
  • 9:30 am – Visit the Neuron Observatory
  • 10:00 am – Visit to the Neurophysiology Lab
  • 12:00 pm – Lunch
  • 1:00 pm – Neuroanatomy with Human Brain
  • 3:30 pm – Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
  • 4:30 pm – Neuroimaging Experiments
  • 5:00 pm – Debrief for the Next Day
  • 5:30 pm – Dinner
  • 6:30 pm – Evening Activities
  • 7:30 pm – Free Time
  • 9:00 pm – Prepare for Bed
  • 10:00 pm – Lights Out

* The “A Day in the Life” sample schedule is subject to change. 


Meet Your Academic Leader

Dr. Anthony Sali

Academic Leader, Neuroscience Institute

Anthony Sali earned his Ph.D. in Psychological and Brain Sciences from the Johns Hopkins University in 2015. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University. Anthony joined the faculty of the psychology department at Wake Forest University as an assistant professor in the fall of 2018. As a cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Sali uses a combination of studies of human behavior, eye tracking, human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the neural mechanisms and behavioral consequences of attentional control. In particular, researchers in the Sali Lab are focused on understanding how individuals harness learned expectations to anticipate future demands and adapt the flexibility of goal-directed attention. Dr. Sali’s research has implications for understanding healthy cognitive abilities as well as disorders of control such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, drug abuse, and anxiety.