Neuroscience, B.S.

The major in neuroscience is designed for students with interests that intersect the fields of biology, psychology, and computer science. Neuroscience focuses on the relationships among brain function, cognitive processing, and behavior. Researchers in this field come from widely disparate backgrounds, including cognitive psychology, clinical neuropsychology, neuroimaging, neurobiology, neuroethology, biopsychology, physiology, neurology, philosophy, and computer science. Thus, research questions are considered from many different levels, and many different converging methodologies are used.

The neuroscience major consists of three tracks: the bioscience track, the cognitive track, and the computational track. The bioscience track focuses on the biological basis of neural development, function, and plasticity. Students will develop an understanding of the nervous system and its role in cognition, perception, and action at the molecular, cellular, and systems level.

The cognitive track provides students with an understanding of how neural networks and brain mechanisms give rise to specific mental processes and behavior. Students begin with the processes that have been traditionally studied in the area of cognitive psychology, but can tailor the program to include phenomena that are traditionally studied in developmental or clinical psychology as well.

The computational track focuses on issues related to developing computational models of neuronal and mental processes. Students will develop an understanding of artificial intelligence that uses biologically plausible methods.

Requirements for the Major:

The neuroscience major consists of four parts: (1) a core of required courses that all majors must take; (2) required courses in one of three tracks-bioscience, cognitive, or computational; (3) general electives; (4) a senior writing requirement. Unless noted below, course descriptions are listed under their home departments.

1. Required courses for all neuroscience majors:

2. Required and cognate courses in one of three tracks:

Bioscience Track:

Required Courses:

Any TWO from the following list:

Students must also take the following cognate Courses:

MTH 110 - Calculus 1: Differential Calculus or
MTH 112 - Calculus 2: Integral Calculus or
MTH 113 - AP Calculus or
MTH 115 - Calculus 3: Differential Vector Calculus and Matrix Theory or
MTH 117 - Calculus 4: Integral Vector Calculus
CHM 101 - Introductory Chemistry I
CHM 102 - Introductory Chemistry II
MTH 112 and one term of physics are recommended.

Cognitive Track:

Required Courses:

Any TWO from the following list:

Students must also take the following cognate Courses:

MTH 110 - Calculus 1: Differential Calculus or
MTH 112 - Calculus 2: Integral Calculus or
MTH 113 - AP Calculus or
MTH 115 - Calculus 3: Differential Vector Calculus and Matrix Theory or
MTH 117 - Calculus 4: Integral Vector Calculus
CHM 101 - Introductory Chemistry I
PSY 300 - Research Methods in Psychology
MTH 112 and one term of physics are recommended.

Computational Track:

Required Courses:

Any TWO from the following list:

CSC 206 - Natural Language Processing
CSC 234 - Data Visualization
CSC 235 - Modeling & Simulation
CSC 243 - (283) Bioinformatics: Information Technology in the Life Sciences
CSC 320 - Artificial Intelligence
CSC 321 - Machine Learning
CSC 325 - Robotics
CSC 329 - Neural Networks
PHL 442 - Advanced Logic
PHL 365 - Philosophy of Mind
PHL 462 - Philosophy of Language

Students must also take the following cognate Courses:

MTH 110 - Calculus 1: Differential Calculus or
MTH 112 - Calculus 2: Integral Calculus or
MTH 113 - AP Calculus or
MTH 115 - Calculus 3: Differential Vector Calculus and Matrix Theory or
MTH 117 - Calculus 4: Integral Vector Calculus
MTH 197 - Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science or
MTH 199 - Introduction to Logic and Set Theory
CSC 150 - Data Structures
MTH 112
CHM 101 - Introductory Chemistry I and
one term of physics are recommended.

3. Electives. TWO additional courses from the following list:

4. Senior writing requirement. Either:

(a) One of the following senior seminars:

(b) A two- or three-term senior thesis. Students must register for senior thesis courses in the department of their thesis advisor:

Biology thesis advisors:

Psychology thesis advisors:

Thesis advisors from other departments:

Contact the Neuroscience program director(s) first.

Requirements for Honors:

In addition to fulfilling college-wide honors requirements, to earn honors in neuroscience, a student must earn a minimum grade point average of 3.3 in the major (including thesis grades, but not including the cognate courses, or more than one term of independent study), a minimum of three grades of A or A- in courses in the major exclusive of the thesis, and satisfactory completion of a senior thesis with a minimum grade of A-.

Course Selection Guidelines for the Neuroscience Major:

It is recommended that students in this major start with BIO 110 , BIO 112 , and PSY 210 as these courses are prerequisites for Neuroscience students to take the neuroscience-related courses in the Psychology department without taking PSY 100 (Introduction to Psychology), which does not count toward the Neuroscience major. After completing PSY 210 , Neuroscience students may take other Psychology courses without first completing PSY 100 . Students are strongly encouraged to take PSY 210 , PSY 200 , BIO 225 , and CSC 103 or CSC 106 as early as possible, preferably in the sophomore year. CSC 106 is preferred over CSC 103 , but both satisfy the same requirement. Students are also advised to take CHM 101 prior to taking BIO 225 . Although not required, it is typical that Cognitive Track majors take senior seminars in the Psychology department, and Bioscience Track majors take senior seminars in the Biology department.