Neuroscience
Major offered

Neuroscience Hompage

The departments of biology and psychology have collaborated to implement a dual-track major in neuroscience. There are many areas of common interest and study at the interface of these two disciplines. Students may elect a cellular track or a behavioral track as described below. Both tracks are designed to give students preparation for graduate study in a variety of neuroscience subdisciplines as well as preparation for entry into health professions. It is imperative that first-year students seek early advisement from a biology or psychology faculty member; they should also begin the -introductory courses in each department during the first year.

See the respective department listings for course descriptions. Occasionally, the biology and psychology departments offer special topics courses not listed in the Catalog that may count toward this major.

Courses

Core Courses (required by both tracks)

Biology
101,102. General Biology. 3 units
232. Laboratory Animals: Ethics, Care and Techniques. 0.5 unit
288. Introductory Neuroscience. 1 unit
389. Advanced Neuroscience. 1 unit

Chemistry
103, 104. General Chemistry. 2.5 units
221. Organic Chemistry. 1.25 units

Psychology
100 or 101. Introductory Psychology. 1 unit
Senior Research in Neuroscience 1-2 units

Total 10.75 - 11.75 units

Cellular Neuroscience Track

Biology
One of the following:
245,246. Genetics.
250. Introduction to Cell Biology.
326. Animal Physiology.

Plus two additional units of courses from:
Biology
245. Genetics.
250. ntroduction to Cell Biology.
320. Reproductive Physiology.
326. Animal Physiology.
386. Advanced Animal Physiology.
*390. Research Methods in Transmission Electron Microscopy.
*391. Research Methods in Scanning Electron Microscopy.
*392. Research Methods in Confocal Microscopy.
395. Research Methods in Molecular Biology.

*Require 393, Microscopy Project

Chemistry
309. Biochemistry.
Plus either
394, Research Methods in Biochemistry
or
395, Research Methods in Molecular Biology

Behavioral Neuroscience Track

Psychology
205. Research Methods in Psychology.

Plus any three courses from:

Biology
326. Animal Physiology.
357. Behavoral Ecology
386. Advanced Animal Physiology.

Psychology
326. Hormones and Behavior.
327. Sensation and Perception.
331. Physiological Psychology.
401. Fundamentals of Learning.
432. Animal Behavior.

In the behavioral neuroscience track, at least two of the three required elective courses must be taken with a laboratory component. The elective biology courses included in this track all have mandatory labs and may satisfy this requirement. The psychology elective courses may be taken with or without a lab component.

Senior Research and Honors Research

Senior research may be conducted with a willing faculty mentor and may be of one semester duration (Neuroscience 489 – SYE research, 1 unit) or for the entire senior year (Neuroscience 489/490 SYE research, 1, 1.5, or 2 units). Students will present their research orally to the neuroscience faculty and are encouraged to present their work at the Annual Festival of Science.

To graduate with honors in neuroscience, students would normally take Neuroscience 489 in the fall semester and then enroll in Neuroscience 499 for the spring semester. In addition, students must meet the following criteria: 1) have a neuroscience GPA of 3.5, 2) form a mentoring committee, 3) complete an honors nomination form by the end of the fall semester, 4) submit a written thesis to the committee by the last day of spring classes, and 5) present the work at the Festival of Science.

A year of physics (Physics 103-104 or 151-152) and the second semester of organic chemistry (Chemistry 222) are highly recommended, especially for those who intend to pursue graduate study in neuroscience.

Note that students majoring in neuroscience may not also receive majors and minors in either biology or psychology.

Advanced Standing

Students scoring a 4 or 5 on the AP biology test must enroll in the first semester of Biology 101 (General Biology) for which they will receive the normal 1.5 units of credit toward the neuroscience major. Students who do well in this course will be permitted to bypass the spring biology course (Biology 102) and they will be given the course credit toward the major. This requires approval of the general biology course instructors, who will use multiple criteria to determine whether or not the AP student should take the spring course. The AP score of 4 or 5 will automatically nominate the student for this option, but the student may also volunteer to forgo it.

Students who have taken Advanced Placement psychology and received a grade of 4 or 5 on the advanced test are eligible to receive 1 unit of credit for Psychology 100.

Academic planning forms are available on the neuroscience Web page at http://it.stlawu.edu/~biology/biology_forms/NEUROplan.pdf