Neuroscience
Mission Statement
The mission of the Neuroscience Program at ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ« is to strive for excellence in the education, research experiences and service-learning opportunities for our undergraduates. Underlying these goals is a profound commitment to an interdisciplinary educational endeavor that will meaningfully address the enrichment of the human condition and prepare our students to be competitive in today’s academic and professional environments.
Learning the science underlying the functions of the brain and behavior is a perfect vehicle for teaching critical thinking, creativity, complex reasoning, research methods and effective communication. Students will discover how approaches from different neuroscience subdisciplines complement one another and how the findings may be integrated to provide a multidisciplinary understanding of the nervous system. Students will develop a strong foundation in both the sciences and humanities, and develop skills adaptable to a wide variety of areas and interests. The Neuroscience major will prepare students for career paths that include graduate school, the health professions, education, research and scientific writing.
The Program
Neuroscience represents a relatively new but rapidly expanding area of study that brings together a variety of disciplines to explore the development, structure, functional activities and behavioral consequences of the nervous system. Some areas addressed through the study of neuroscience include cognition, neurobiology of aging, developmental neurobiology and the effects of neuropharmacology on behavior. New research findings focus on evolving concepts in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, neural stem cell research, biochemical basis of thinking and learning and behavior.
The neuroscience major emphasizes a collaborative multidisciplinary approach to understanding the intricate neural mechanisms underlying human and animal behavior. Students will experience a diverse, yet integrated education focused on the relationship between biology and behavior from the introductory to advanced courses of study. Three areas of neuroscience emphasis have been developed, but all majors would have a common core of courses.
Students considering postgraduate careers in neuroscience, experimental psychology, neuropsychology, pharmaceutical research, education, law and medicine are encouraged to pursue this major field of study.
The objectives of this major are to:
- offer a strong interdisciplinary approach to the study of neuroscience
- provide sufficient opportunities for students to pursue coursework in one of three areas of neuroscience: cellular neurobiology, behavioral neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience
- develop liberally educated neuroscience majors who may pursue higher education in this or a related field of study
- offer a number of interesting and valuable experiential learning opportunities for these majors (independent study, field study, honors projects, service learning)
- encourage students to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills through this interdisciplinary experience
- address the demand for future neuroscientists, physicians, scientific writers and neuroscience educators to attend to the numerous disorders/diseases affecting the nervous system, learning disorders and disease processes that develop throughout aging within our population