The Cognitive Neuroscience Minor provides a strong background in the biological underpinnings of behavior and cognition.
The Cognitive Neuroscience Minor is an interdisciplinary program between the Psychology & Applied Therapies and Natural Sciences & Mathematics divisions. This minor provides a strong background in the biological underpinnings of behavior and cognition. It is intended for students who have an interest in the exploration of the mind-body relationship or who plan to pursue a career in neuroscience or a related discipline. Students electing this minor are exposed to basic courses in biology and psychology and to advanced courses in neurobiology and neuropathology. From this program of study, students will acquire:
Review the requirements for a minor in Cognitive Neuroscience.
How is it that, to borrow the words of Neurologist VS Ramachandran, “a threepound mass of jelly… can contemplate the vastness of interstellar space… the meaning of infinity…and… contemplate itself contemplating on the meaning of infinity‘’ and so much more? In this course, we will examine the fundamental cellular and molecular structures that comprise the brain and other parts of the nervous system. Starting with the properties and behaviors of the basic unit of the nervous system, the neuron, we will find out how interactions among proteins and cells can give rise to complex phenomena like cognition, attention, memory and sensation.
This course will provide a comprehensive overview of the anatomy of the brain with special emphasis on relationships to both normal human function and dysfunction in the nervous system. Particular areas of study include: major sensory and motor tracts of the spinal cord and brainstem; cranial nerves; functional organization of the neocortex; basal ganglia; cerebellum; and limbic systems. Students will learn about the neurological exam and to visually identify specific structures on photographs of sectioned and gross brain specimens and neuroimaging. This course will prepare students with the medical terminology and neurological concepts for a general understanding of the human brain and its functions in relation to disease and behavior.