 Neuroscience
is the interdisciplinary study of the nervous system and behavior. The study of
neuroscience has revolutionized the fundamental way in which we think about what
it means to be human. At the heart of this revolutionary field stands the
traditional disciplines of biology, chemistry, anthropology, and psychology.
Therefore, many of the courses that meet the requirements for the Neuroscience
major are core courses in other departments.
Neuroscience not only serves as an intersection between these traditional
disciplines but also changes the way in which we approach those disciplines.
Neuroscientists study such issues as the molecular and cellular basis of
neuronal function, nervous system structure, how systems of neurons process
information, the way in which functions are represented in the brain, the
evolutionary development of the nervous system, neural correlates of behavior,
and mechanisms of nervous system disorders. The Neuroscience major prepares
students for graduate study in neuroscience, medicine and for other careers that
benefit from a solid foundation in science.
A more comprehensive introduction to neuroscience can be found at the
Society
for Neuroscience. |
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| 1. Neuroscience majors are required
to take the following basic science courses: |
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a. Biology 40 and 41M;
b. Chemistry 51 or both 1a and 1b;
c. Mathematics 30;
d. Mathematics 58, or Psychology 158, or HMC Biology 153;
e. Neuroscience 47 and 190; and 191 or 194a,b; and
f. Psychology 51.
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| 2. Majors must select three
additional basic science courses in consultation with a faculty advisor in the
Neuroscience Program. No three courses can be from the same department, with the
exception of Chemistry: |
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Biol 41E (Ecological and Evolutionary Biology)
Biol 109 (Molecular Evolution)
Biol 140 (Animal Physiology)
Biol 144 (Comparative Endocrinology)
Biol 163 (Cell Biology)
Biol 169 (Developmental Biology)
Chem 110a (Organic Chemistry)
Chem 110b (Organic Chemistry)
Chem 115 (Biochemistry)
Chem 174 & 175 (Bio-Organic Chemistry and Intro to Medicinal Chemistry)
Csci 30 (Computation and Cognition)
Csci 51 (Introduction to Computer Science)
Csci 52 (Fundamentals of Computer Science)
Math 31 (Calculus II)
Math 32 (Calculus III)
Phys 51a (General Physics)
Phys
51b (General Physics)
Psyc 108 (Child Psychology)
Psyc 131 (Abnormal Psychology)
Psyc 154 (Social Psychology)
Psyc 160 (Perception & Cognition)
Psyc 162 (Memory & Language)
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| 3. Majors must take a core
course from each of the following three areas of neuroscience: |
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1) Cell and Molecular Neuroscience
a. Biol 178 (Neurobiology with lab)2) Comparative Systems Neuroscience:
a. Biol 125 (Animal Behavior); or
b. Biol 130 (Vertebrate Sensory Systems)
3) Human Neuroscience
a. Psyc 143 (The Human Brain: From Neuron
to Behavior)
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| 4. Majors must select an
additional course from the following neuroscience electives (neuroscience core
courses can be used to satisfy the neuroscience elective requirement): |
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Anth 57 (Biological
Anthropology)
Anth 65 (Primate Social Behavior)
Anth 112 (Biology & Human Behavior)
Csci 151 (Artificial Intelligence)
Csci 152 (Neural Networks)
Neur 102 (Neuroethology)
Psyc 180J (Seminar on Language, Memory, and the Brain)
Psyc 180I (Seminar in Cognitive Electrophysiology)
Psyc 180W (Biological Basis of Psychopathology) |
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With prior written approval from the program coordinator, students may receive
credit toward their major for coursework completed at another Claremont college.
Students planning on attending graduate school in Neuroscience should consult
with an adviser in Neuroscience regarding course selection. Neuroscience majors
are eligible to apply for the University College London Study Abroad Program. |
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47. Topics in Neuroscience:
An Introduction to the field. Staff.
Lecture, discussion, and
demonstration. Half-course. Spring 2005 |
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An introduction to fundamental issues in
cellular and molecular neuroscience, comparative systems neuroscience, and human
neuroscience. An emphasis will be placed on the foundational issues being
addressed within each level of neuroscience and the techniques that are used to
address these issues. This course is intended for first-year majors. |
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102. Neuroethology:
Mechanism of Behavior. Ms. Levin.
Lecture and discussion. Prerequisites: Biology 40 and
either Biology 41M or 41E. Spring 2005. Offered
alternate years. |
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A comparative approach to examining how the nervous
system supports behavior. Topics include the evolution and organization
of the nervous system, neural-endocrine interactions, and mechanisms underlying
the detection and recognition of behavioral signals and the generation
of a behavioral response to them. |
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125. Animal Behavior. Ms. Levin.
Lecture and discussion.
Prerequisites: Biology 41E or Permission from the Instructor. Spring 2005. |
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Examines maintenance, reproductive, and social
behaviors of animals from evolutionary, ecological, and mechanistic
perspectives. Topics include behavioral ecology and sociobiology, behavioral
genetics, behavioral endocrinology, and neuroethology. Lecture and laboratory.
Laboratory includes field observations of freeliving animals. |
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130. Vertebrate Sensory
Systems. Mr. Johnson.
Lecture, discussion and
laboratory. Prerequisite: Biology 41M. Spring 2006. |
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Vertebrates possess remarkable adaptations for exploring their external
environment. We will examine the senses of smell, taste, touch, vision and
hearing at molecular, cellular and systems levels, with particular focus on the
development of these systems. Topics will also include comparative anatomy,
physiology, neural coding and exotic sensory systems. |
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143. The Human Brain: From Neurons to Behavior. Ms. Weekes, Mr. Lewis.
Fall 2004. [PAC7] |
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Introduction to biological basis of behavior.
Topics include neural basis of sleep, reproduction, learning, memory, language,
neurological disorders, and mental disorders. |
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178. Neurobiology. Ms. Parfitt.
Lecture, discussion, and laboratory. Prerequisites: Biology 41M. Spring 2005. |
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Introduction to the biology of the nervous system
functions of vertebrates and invertebrates. Emphasis on cellular and molecular
approaches. Topics include ionic basis of electrical signaling in excitable
cells, the physiology and biochemistry of synaptic transmission, the physiology
of sensory and motor systems, and the molecular mechanisms of learning and
memory. |
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190. Senior Seminar
Half-course. Senior majors only. First semester. |
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Critical analysis and discussion of the
current research literature in neuroscience. Topics vary each year. |
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191. Senior Library Thesis
Half-course. Second semester. |
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Students conducting a non-empirical thesis design
a research protocol to answer an original question. Written in the form
of a grant proposal. |
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194a,b. Senior Experimental Thesis
Half-course. 194a first semester, 194b second semester. |
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Students conducting an empirical thesis undertake
an experimental project that addresses an original question. |
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199. Independent Study/Research
Full-course or Half-course. Both semesters. |
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Independent reading or research on a topic in collaboration with faculty. |
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| The Pomona College Catalog states: “Each student’s major
will culminate in a senior exercise designed to deepen student understanding
and integrate the content and method of his or her field of study. Ideally,
the exercise will lead the student to synthesize the diverse courses he
or she has chosen for the concentration. Although the exercise will differ
from field to field of study, each will require the student to demonstrate
mastery of the methodology, principles, or practice of the chosen field.”
The senior exercise in neuroscience will consist of two parts.
The first part will consist of Neur 190: Senior Seminar in the Fall.
The second part will consist of the senior thesis. Students can satisfy
the senior thesis requirement by producing either a grant proposal (Neur
191: Senior Thesis in the Spring) or an experimental thesis (Neur 194a
in the Fall and 194b in the Spring). One of the goals of Neur 190 will
be to prepare you for the senior thesis. One way this will be accomplished
is by doing an in-depth literature review on a well-defined issue in neuroscience.
A literature review is a critical evaluation of published literature in
a topical area of neuroscience. According to the Publication Manual of
the American Psychological Association (4th Edition): “By organizing, integrating,
and evaluating previously published material, the author of a review article
considers the progress of current research toward clarifying a problem.
In a sense, a review article is tutorial in that the author:
a) defines and clarifies the problem
b) summarizes previous investigations in order to inform the reader
of the state of current research;
c) identifies relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies
in the literature; and
d) suggests the next step or steps in solving the problem.”
Your senior thesis will typically follow from your literature review,
so the topic you choose for your literature review will likely be the focus
of your senior exercise for the academic year. Therefore, you will want
to put some careful thought into choosing an appropriate topic. For many,
this is the most difficult part of the senior exercise. In selecting a
topic, you may want to consider which courses, or topics within a course,
you found most interesting. Look for references from that course
that will lead you to more reading on that topic. You might also want to
look through issues of Science, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Trends in
Neuroscience, Annual Review of Neuroscience, and Journal of Neuroscience
to find current topics of interest in neuroscience. Most importantly, you
should talk to faculty about your ideas for a literature review and how
to go about selecting a topic. Although your literature review does
not necessarily have to be a direct investigation of the nervous system,
the implications for understanding the nervous system should be perfectly
clear and elaborated on in your thesis. The goal of the literature review
should be to enhance our understanding of the nervous system. One
test of whether this goal was achieved might be to examine the literature
cited in the review; the vast majority of the cited studies should come
from neuroscience journals.
Once you have selected a general topic, the next step will be to define
and limit the area of your review. You may not know whether or not a topic
is too broad or too narrow until you get into the literature (your advisor
can probably help you with this). One way to find out quickly is to do
a computer search--if you are using correct search words, the number of
articles obtained from your search is a good indicator of whether you have
defined your topic too narrowly or too broadly.
In addition to selecting a topic for your senior exercise, you will
also need to select an advisor. Usually, the advisor is selected because
she or he represents an area of neuroscience that you are interested in
pursuing for your senior exercise. You may also want to consider which
faculty you work best with, since the bulk of the work for your senior
exercise is defined by agreements between you and your advisor. Furthermore,
your advisor will evaluate your work.
Since neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field, there are many different
formats and styles used in the neuroscientific literature. You will need
to agree on a specific style and format with your advisor. As a default
you should consider the format in the Journal of Neuroscience's Instructions
for Authors. You should also consult the Society for Neuroscience's (SFN)
Responsible Guidelines Regarding Scientific Communication. |
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| We have broken down the literature review process into
several steps and we have established a deadline for each step of the process.
The completed work is due at 4:45 p.m. in your advisor’s office. How well
you meet each deadline will, in part, determine your grade.
The deadline for the final draft of the literature review is not negotiable since it is a college policy for all written
work to be completed by the last day of classes for the semester. Final
drafts not turned in by the college deadline will result in a failing grade
for Neuro190. |
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Neuroscience 191: Senior Library
Thesis
This is a half-course devoted
to writing a research proposal, which is similar in style to those scientists
write for granting agencies such as the National Institutes of Health in
order to obtain funding to carry out a series of experiments to address
a significant issue in neuroscience.
Producing a research proposal
will require that you are able to identify a relevant neuroscientific literature,
evaluate it, and generate important issues worthy of further investigation.
Once you have established what the issue is, you will need to propose a
series of experiments that will address this issue. Typically, you should
propose a series of experiments that would take place over about 2-3 years--again,
your advisor will be the best judge of how many experiments that would
be. The proposed experiments will require that you are able to understand
neuroscientific methods, what kind of data will be generated, and how these
data will be analyzed. You will have to anticipate possible outcomes and
be able to explain how they will affect the development of the identified
issue.
Your proposal will consist of
the following sections: |
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Title
Page - the title page consists of the title, which is specific and
descriptive of your proposed experiments, your name, and affiliation (Pomona
College)
Abstract - a brief, comprehensive
summary of the proposal. It should consist of a summary of the major components
of the proposal, including the issue you raise, the proposed experiments,
and anticipated results and interpretation. The abstract should probably
be on the order of 100 words
Introduction - the introduction
introduces the problem or issue. (It usually is not labeled because of
its obvious position in the proposal) The introduction is usually about
6 pages. It tends to be a condensed version of your literature review from
Fall semester. You will discuss the relevant literature, identify limitations
in the extant literature and develop the issue or problem. The introduction
should build the case for the proposed experiments. It should conclude
with up to a page devoted to stating the specific goals or aim of your
proposed research.
Proposed Research - this
section will be the thrust of your proposal. The biggest problem students
usually face here is how much detail to go into. In order to get a sense
of style, use the Methods section of journal articles to give you an idea
of how to write this section. The rule of thumb is that you will need to
go into enough detail so that someone would be able to conduct your experiment
from the information you supply. You will propose a series of experiments
(i.e., Experiment 1, Experiment 2, etc.). For each experiment, you will
develop the following subsections:
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Participants
(or subjects) - you will need to specifically describe the participants
or subjects to be used in your study. You will need to specify the number
of subjects to be used, how are to be obtained, and describe them in enough
detail (for animals, this would include: the genus, species, strain identification,
supplier, sex, age, weight, physiological condition, etc.). Consult ethical
guidelines for use of animal or human subjects as stated in the Journal
of Neuroscience's Instructions
for Authors, the Institutional
Review Board (IRB) Guidebook, and the American
Psychological Association's (APA) Ethical
Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
Apparatus and/or materials
- here you will describe the equipment, supplies, and materials to be used
in the study. Standard equipment can be mentioned without detail. Specialized
equipment will usually be described with the name and location of the supplier
and model number. Procedure--detail what you propose to do and how you
will do it. The procedure is where you will include information about the
design of the experiment--how many groups and conditions exist, how subjects
were assigned to each group and/or condition. It is usually very helpful
to use tables to illustrate the design of your experiment.
Discussion - The final
section of the body of your proposal will contain a reconsideration of
your specific goals, aims, or objectives; the specific analyses you will
be using to analyze your data; possible outcomes of those analyses; and
conclusions based on the possible outcomes. The discussion is also the
place to propose future directions and experiments, based on the considered
outcomes of the proposed experiments. The main body of the proposal (introduction,
proposed research, and discussion) should be on the order of about 20 pages. |
Literature Cited - You will
need to list in a specific and organized way the literature that you refer
to in your proposal. There are many different “styles” used and the specific
style you use will depend on what you have agreed to follow with your advisor. |
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Neuroscience 194a,b: Senior Experimental
Thesis
The second option for your thesis
is a 2 half-course sequence experimental thesis. You should plan on this
taking the full academic year and you will need to develop a specific research
project early in the Fall semester and work closely with your advisor.
It is recommended that you begin to work on an experimental thesis with
your advisor the Spring before your senior year. Much of your time will
be working out the details of the experiment and you will need to allow
enough time. You will need to agree on a format with your advisor. Again,
you should consider the format in the Journal
of Science's Instructions
for Authors. Another style you might consider is the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association (4th Edition). You
should also consult the Society for Neuroscience's
(SFN) Responsible Guidelines Regarding
Scientific Communication.
The thesis will consist of the
following sections: |
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Title Page
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
References |
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The
experimental thesis is usually the more rewarding of your two options,
but it is also the most time consuming and potentially frustrating. You
will be limited by the resources available at Pomona College and will need
to discuss availability of resources with your anticipated advisor as early
as possible. The Neuroscience Program will support materials for experimental
senior theses—these funds are limited, though, and you will need to budget
your thesis and verify with your advisor and the Neuroscience Program Coordinator
that you will have access to sufficient funds. Your research will need
to conform to current ethical principles and you will need to work with
your advisor in order to follow college policy for review of your project
prior to data collection. Consult ethical guidelines for use of animal
or human subjects as stated in the Journal
of Neuroscience's Instructions
for Authors, Institutional
Review Board (IRB) Guidebook, and the American
Psychological Association's (APA) Ethical
Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
You can expect that things will
go wrong (e.g., supplies arrive late, equipment breaks down, etc.) and
you will need to plan for this and “problem-solve” along the way. You will
be rewarded, though, with a sense of accomplishment and generating results
of your proposed experiment (in contrast to those doing a grant proposal,
who never see the outcome of their proposed experiments).
Students completing an experimental thesis
will publically present their thesis at the end of the year. All
neuroscience majors are expected to attend. Since the time-frame for different
parts of the research study will vary dramatically according to the details of
the research, you will need to establish deadlines with your advisor. |
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| Important: Your final grade
in the course will be based, in part, on how well you meet the deadlines
agreed to by you and your advisor. All deadlines are at 4:45 P.M. of the
specified day. |
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| Original web site design by Alexander
Sundquist ('99) |
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