What Is Neuroscience?

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What Is Neuroscience?

• Function of
• the Brain
• and Nervous
• System

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What Is Neuroscience?

• Neuroanatomy Structure is Key to Function

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What Is Neuroscience?

• Function of Neurons
• There are approximately 100 billion neurons in
  the human brain
• The human brain has 100 trillion synaptic
  connections
• There are about 3 million miles of axons in the
  human brain
• There are over 1,000 disorders of the brain and
  nervous system

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What Is Neuroscience?

• Diseases of the
• Nervous System
• Alzheimers
• Parkinsons
• Stroke
• Epilepsy
• Paralysis
• Obesity?

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What Is Neuroscience?

• At least 30 million neurons in the entire visual
  cortex are activated by the single image of a
  house or face
• For centuries, people thought that the heart, not
  the brain, was important for memory. The
  expression "memorize by heart" is derived from
  this old belief

• Perception, Learning, Memory

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What Is Neuroscience?

• How Drugs Work
• Botox temporarily paralyzes muscles by
  interfering with acetylcholine, which transmits
  nerve signals to muscles. Sales of the
  wrinkle-softening toxin Botox totaled 309.5
  million in 2001
• In 2002, the US government spent close to 19
  billion treating and preventing drug abuse

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What Is Neuroscience?

• Genes And Behavior

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What Is Neuroscience?

• Development
• The weight of the human brain triples during the
  first year of life, going from 300 grams to 900
  grams
• When children are six years old, they can
  understand approximately 13,000 words high
  school graduates know at least 60,000 words

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What Is Neuroscience?

• Evolutionary and Comparative Perspective

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What Is Neuroscience?

• Sex Differences
• The number of neurons in the neocortex of females
  is 19.3 billion in males, the number of neurons
  in the neocortex is 22.8 billion
• The brain of the great physicist Albert Einstein
  weighed 1,230 grams. This is far below the
  average brain weight of 1,400 grams
• In 2000, 495 doctorates were awarded in
  neuroscience 39.4 of these new PhDs were women

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Undergrad Minimum Requirements GPA 3.0 GRE
1100 Research Experience Letters Physical
Sciences Bio Chem Physics Psychology Compu
ter Science Molecular Approaches
Grad Begin life as a Professional Masters
Optional Stipend18-25K per yr Coursework
Teaching First 2 yrs Cell, Molecular Biology
Neuroanatomy Pharmacology Physiology
Clinical, Cognitive Psych Labwork Develop
skills First 2 yrs Dissertation Project
Last 3 yrs Learn How To. . . 1. Ask
Questions 2. Experimentally Test 3. Write
Papers 4. Give Scientific Talks
Post-Doc Stipend35-45K Expand Technical
Skills Continue to Learn. . . Questions
Experiments Papers Talks Learn How to Obtain
Funds NIH NSF Private Foundations A grant
as a Post-Doc makes you MUCH more attractive as a
job candidate
Real Job Salary Academic Non-Academic
Research Inst. Biotech NIH Other Teaching
is the difference Both Involve 1. Funding
2. Experiments 3. Papers 4. Talks
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What Is Neuroscience?

• The Place to Start in Psychology
• Fundamental Understanding of Behavior (normal
  and abnormal!)
• Technical Area with Widespread Applications
• More Than Lab Work . . .

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