Program Overview
Our neuroscience program features a strong life science foundation and grounding in research methods and experience. The curriculum also gives you the freedom to select advanced courses to prepare you for a wide variety of post-graduation career options, including graduate study, medical school and other health-care career options, laboratory technician positions, and science writing. As a neuroscience major, you will join an active, energetic neuroscience research community. Required courses are divided into five major categories described below.
Group 1: Fundamental Ancillary Courses
Students take courses in biology, psychology, math, and chemistry similar to those of other life science majors. Courses may include: Exploring Biology (BCOR 1400, BCOR 1450), General Chemistry 1 and 2 (CHEM 1400, CHEM 1450), Fundamentals of Calculus 1 and 2 (MATH 1212, MATH 1224), I (PSYCH 1400). They are prerequisites for the required foundational and experimental design and statistical courses.
Group 2: Foundational Courses
Group 2 courses, including NSCI 2100-Exploring Neuroscience with lab, provide an introduction to the field of neuroscience and important background knowledge that is a prerequisite to more advanced courses. NSCI 2100 provides an in-depth survey of neuroscience topics, including an overview of the cellular and molecular functioning of neurons, a survey of the anatomical and functional organization of the central and peripheral nervous systems, and an exposure to diseases of the nervous system. The lab is planned as four sets of experiments. Each set is organized as interlinked, problem-solving exercises or experiments which introduce the student to a range of neuroscience topics and methods.
Group 3: Experimental Design Courses
Group 3 includes courses in experimental design and statistics which show students methods of inquiry that are key to basic and applied areas of neuroscience.
Group 4: Advanced Level Courses
The fourth group of advanced courses is the core of the neuroscience major. Students take three of four upper-level courses currently offered by four different departments (Biology, Psychology, Communication Sciences, and Anatomy and Neurobiology) and an advanced neuroscience course (NSCI 4500: Diseases of the Nervous System). NSCI 4500 is intended to be a senior-level, seminar-style capstone course in which students bring together information learned in other courses for an in-depth study of disease states of the human nervous system.
Group 5: Specialized Advanced Study/Research
The fifth group of courses gives students options for additional advanced study in behavioral/cognitive, in cell/molecular areas of neuroscience, and opportunities to conduct research. Students are able to select courses that will prepare them for a chosen career path. For example, those interested in more clinically oriented careers can take courses in biobehavioral psychology and communication sciences where the emphasis is on the biological basis of behavior, how we think, language, and brain injury. Students interested in a more cellular and molecular neuroscience career can take advanced courses in neurobiology and human neuroanatomy.