Neuroscience

• 1. Neuroscience The Science of the BrainA guide for certificate program studentsPrinceton Neuroscience Institutehttp://neuroscience.princeton.eduUpdated Jan-101

2. Welcome to thePrinceton Neuroscience Institute Undergraduate Certificate Program CONTENTS Program Description 3 QCN Program 4Requirements for Admission4 Program of Study4Neuroscience Curriculum 5Undergraduate Electives 6Academic Honors 7Awards and Prizes 7Independent Research7Research Opportunities8Examples of Student Research8Finding a Thesis Advisor11Your future with PNI14How to Enroll 152 3. Program Description The Program in Neuroscience is designed for undergraduates with strong interests in molecular biology, psychology and re- lated disciplines who wish to pursue an interdisciplinary study of brain function in their Junior and Senior independent work. The program encourages the serious study of molecular, cellu- lar, developmental and systems neuroscience as it interfaces with cognitive and behavioral research. Current examples at Princeton include: neural stem cells in the adult brain, viral in- fections of the nervous system, event analysis at single syn- apses, mathematical and computational analysis of neural net- work function, and brain imaging studies of cognitive functions such as attention and memory in humans. The program offers a combination of courses and interdisciplinary research that meet the requirements of the molecular biology and psychology de- partments. Students in the program will be prepared to meet the entry requirements of graduate schools in neuroscience, as well as molecular biology or psychology. Courses are chosen with the help of advisors in the molecular biology, psychology and other related departments. A certificate in neuroscience is awarded to students who successfully complete the program.NEU3 4. THE PROGRAM IN QUANTITATIVE AND COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE (QCN) is a special track within the Certificate in Neuroscience. It is an honors program designed for undergraduates who wish to pursue a quantitative approach to the study of brain function. Students must maintain a B+ average in the required courses and the senior thesis. As is the case with the Program in Neurosci- ence certificate, graduates of the QCN track will be prepared to meet the entry requirements of graduate schools in neurosci- ence, as well as molecular biology or psychology; in addition, QCN students will have acquired quantitative data analysis, mod- eling, and programming skills. Additionally, these students will have the opportunity to apply for summer funding to continue research in the area of Quantitative and Computational Neuro- science. Requirements for Admission Students are admitted to the program once they have chosen their field of concentration and consulted with the Program Di- rectors. Students will identify an advisor for the senior thesis late in the junior year. The advisor will supervise the student's senior thesis, and depending on the department, also the stu- dents junior independent work. PROGRAM OF STUDY Students in the Program in Neuroscience develop, in consulta- tion with their advisor, a course of study built upon their depart- mental concentration that consists of the curriculum listed be- low, plus junior and senior independent work in neuroscience. Program courses may not be taken Pass/D/Fail.4 5. Neuroscience Curriculum: All students expecting to obtain the certificate must take: Prerequisites: One year of calculus: MAT 101 or 103, and MAT102 or MAT 104 or ORF 245 MOL 214 Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology or MOL 215 Quantitative Principles in Cell and Molecular Biology Requirements: PSY 258 Fundamentals of Neuroscience PSY 259 Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience MOL 408/PSY 404 Cellular and Systems Neuroscience Two neuroscience electives, one from Molecular Biologyand one from Psychology Students are expected to adhere to the degree requirements in their home departments. In addition to those requirements, one course in physics is highly recommended for advanced work in the program. QCN track: Students pursuing a QCN certificate will take either MOL 437 (Computational Neuroscience), PSY 330 (Introduction to Connec- tionist Models: Bridging between Brain and Mind), PSY/NEU 338 (Animal learning and decision making psychological, computa- tional and neural perspectives), OR APC/MAT 351 (Models in Mathematical Neuroscience), AND either NEU 501B or NEU 502B (From Molecules to Systems to Behavior) - these are lab courses which will introduce students to a variety of techniques and con- cepts used in modern neuroscience. Students considering medical school or an M.D./Ph.D. program may have additional course requirements, and should speak with a health professions advisor during their first year or sec- ond year at Princeton. Pre-medical students in psychology should plan on taking one additional biology laboratory course in order to meet medical school entrance requirements. Students in other departments should consult with their depart- mental representatives and the directors of the certificate pro- gram to develop a course of study. 5 6. Recognizing that Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary program whose excitement lies in new and changing areas at the interface of biology, psychology and other related disciplines, alternative programs of study may be arranged at the discretion of the di- rectors. NEUROSCIENCE COURSES ELECTIVESFALL 2009 COURSES MOL 410 Introduction to Biological Dynamics PSY 334 Neuroscience of Motivation and Reward PSY 337 Neuroscience of Social Cognition and Emotion MOL 431 Advanced Topics in DevelopmentalNeurobiologySPRING 2010 COURSES MOL 562Biophysics PSY 306Memory & Cognition PSY/NEU 410Depression: from Neuron to Clinic PSY/NEU 415Advanced Topics in Learning & Memory: (also counts as MOL) Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms PSY/NEU 416Brain Imaging in Cognitive Neuroscience Research OTHER ELECTIVES (NOT OFFERED IN AY 0910) MOL 437/Computational Neuroscience 537/PSY517 PSY/ NEU 330Introduction to Connectionist Models: BridgingBetween Brain and Mind PSY/ NEU 336The Diversity of Brains PSY 337 Neuroscience of Social Cognition and Emotion PSY/NEU 338 Animal learning and decision making:psychological, computational and neuralPerspectives PSY/NEU 417 The Neural Basis of Goal-Directed Behavior APC/MAT 351 Models in Mathematical Neuroscience6 7. ACADEMIC HONORS Academic honors (Honors, High Honors) are awarded using GPA for Neuroscience courses as one of the criteria. There are no automatic ranges in GPA for awarding honors. The Departmental GPA is only one of several factors that go into the decision proc- ess for deciding honors. A two-semester senior thesis is required for departmental honors. Quality of the senior thesis (or inde- pendent work), junior independent work (if applicable), service and general impressions made by the student on the faculty are also taken into consideration in honors calculation. Every at- tempt is made to be fair to the student and also to maintain the quality of the honors being granted.AWARDS AND PRIZES Awards are made at the time of Class Day exercises just prior to Commencement to recognize the accomplishments of our un- dergraduates. Outstanding Academic Performance is awarded annually for the highest grade point average in Neuroscience Certificate courses. The Class of 1943 Senior Thesis Prize is awarded annually for the most outstanding theses in the field of Neuroscience.INDEPENDENT RESEARCH Students will follow departmental guidelines for independent work during their junior year. While it is not required that stu- dents focus their work on neuroscience during their junior year, it is customary to extend research projects into the senior year, and therefore makes sense to begin a neuroscience focus early on in the program. Independent work during the junior and sen- ior years is supervised by faculty in the Neuroscience program. For students concentrating in departments that make it impossi- ble to do junior and senior work that fulfills both departmental and certificate program expectations, additional independent work may be required. For all students, independent research topics can be laboratory or theoretical research projects, and are approved in advance by the Program Committee, in consultation with faculty advisors.7 8. RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES The primary goal of PNI is to provide direct laboratory experi- ence under the mentorship of faculty to talented undergradu- ate bioscience majors and to introduce them to the challenges and rewards provided by research. The program encourages the serious study of molecular, cellular, developmental and systems neuroscience as it interfaces with cognitive and behav- ioral research. Current examples at Princeton include: plasticity and timing-dependent learning rules at synapses, coincidence detection and computation in dendrites, adaptation and pat- tern detection in neural circuits, cellular and circuit mecha- nisms of short-term memory, sensory-motor transformations in the cerebral cortex, neural stem cells in the adult brain, viral infections of the nervous system, brain imaging studies of cog- nitive functions such as attention and memory in human sub- jects, and mathematical and computational analysis of neural network function. A number of our students participate in research opportunities during the summer. STUDENT RESEARCHThe following are some examples of recent senior thesis pro- jects. Students often participate as co-authors of published pa- pers and have the opportunity to present their work at profes- sional meetings. 8 9. DepartmentProject Title Chemical EngineeringEngineering sensors for in situ analysis of growth factor signalingChemical EngineeringThe Expression of Apoptotic Proteins in E. coli: Assembly and Surface Expression of BakClassicsOdysseus the Returning Veteran: Posttrau- matic Stress Disorder in the OdysseyComputer ScienceVisual Context in Object Recognition: an MVPA ApproachEcology and Evolutionary Multimodal and Motor Influences on Vocal Per- BiologyceptionEcology and Evolutionary Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and the Public Health BiologyThreatEcology and Evolutionary The Effects of Acute and Chronic Activity-Based BiologyAnorexia on Cell Proliferation and Survival inAdolescent Rat BrainsEconomics Responses of the Stock Market to Large Daily Price Changes: An Empirical, Behavioral Fi- nance, and Neuroeconomic AnalysisElectricalInferring Connectivity of Neural Circuits From Engineering Spike TimingHistory Social Colonization: The impact of the French education and social welfare systems in Algeria on the course of the Algerian War for Inde- pendenceMolecular Biology A re-evaluation of Parkinson's disease as a mul- tifaceted process of accelerated aging Molecular Biology The Characterization of /kurly/ and its Role in Left-Right Patterning Molecular Biology Identification of the Conformation of nSec 1- bound SNARE Complex 9 10. DepartmentProject Title Molecular Biology Characterization of tiger: A Zebrafish Mutant with Left-Right Patterning DefectsMolecular Biology Elucidating the Role of Hedgehog Signaling in Proliferation and Differentiation Within the Developing Mouse Spinal CordMusic Underconnectivity Theory: A Common Feature of Cognitive Models of Autism at the Neurologi- cal LevelPsychologyGrasping Behaviour in Rhesus Macaques (M. Mulatta): Rethinking the Precision and Power GripsPsychologyThe Opioid System and Alcohol Intake: A Role for the Paraventricular Nucleus and the Nu- cleum AccumbensPsychologyDeveloping an Attentional Set-Shifting Paradigm for Peromyscus californicusPsychologyNatural Food Substances and Reward: An Ex- amination of Sugar-Induced Hyperactivity and a Salt Deprivation EffectPsychologyBinocular Rivalry: Current Theories, Experimen- tal Evidence, and Neural BasisPsychologyThink Fast: Trait Judgments Within 500msPsychologyConstruction Learning and Representation: How Construction Knowledge 'Appears' in the BrainPsychologyFetal Programming of Ingestive Behaviors: The Cross Interaction of Ethanol and Dietary FatWoodrow Wilson School Choosing Better Health Care: The Impact of Decision-Making Behavior on the Quality and Efficiency of Medicare10 11. FINDING A THESIS ADVISOR The following is a list of faculty members who have expressed willingness to advise Neuroscience students for Junior Independ- ent Research or Senior Thesis Projects. Please check with these faculty about their availability and specific projects.Faculty Departments Research Interests Michael Molecular Neural computation in the retina Berry Biology William Physics The interface between Bialekphysics and biology Matthew PsychologyNeural and computational Botvinick basis of cognitive control, decision making, working memory CarlosMolecular Computational neurosci- Brody Biology ence Rebecca Molecular Left-right patterning in the Burdine Biology vertebrate embryo ReneOperations Research Stochastic models and image Carmona and Financial Engi- analysis neeringJonathanPsychologyNeural mechanisms of cognitive Cohen control AndrewPsychologyFunctional and effective Conwayconnectivity of working memory networks IngridMathematics Time-frequency analysis Daubechiesand applications JonathanMolecular Genetic analysis of mouse Eggenschwiler Biology neural development11 12. Faculty Departments Research Interests LynnMolecular Neurovirology Enquist Biology AlanMolecular Biological, computational GelperinBiology and electronic olfaction; learning and memory AsifPsychologyHow did the brain evolve to per- Ghazanfar ceive speech?Elizabeth PsychologyNeurogenesis and hippo- Gould campal function James Ecology and Programming and decision Gould Evolutionarymaking in animals BiologyMichael PsychologySensorimotor integration Graziano Charles PsychologyFunctions of the cerebral Gross cortex in behavior MichaelaEcology and Ecology and evolution of Hau Evolutionaryphysiological systems in Biology birds Bartley PsychologyBehavioral neuroscience Hoebel PhilipMechanicalMathematical modeling Holmesand Aero- space Engi- neering and Program in Applied and Computa- tional Mathe- matics 12 13. FacultyDepartmentsResearch Interests John MolecularComputational neurobiol- Hopfield Biologyogy / biophysics BarryPsychology Brain monoamine neuro- Jacobstransmitters Sabine Psychology Neural mechanisms for Kastner visual perceptionColeen MolecularMolecular mechanisms of aging Murphy Biology KennethPsychology Neural mechanisms of episodic Normanand semantic memory Yael Psychology Normative computational Niv modeling and functional neuroimaging of decision making behavior in hu- mans and animals Daniel Ecology andAdaptive patterns of social Rubenstein Evolutionary behaviorBiologyRobert Mechanical Optimal control of disease Stengeland Aero-processesspace Engi-neering Jeffry MolecularMembrane receptors and StockBiologysignal transduction DavidMolecularMeasurement and analysis Tank Biologyof neural circuit dynamics Anne Psychology Visual attention, object Treismanperception and memory Samuel MolecularLearning rules and design Wang Biologyprinciples in neural circuits 13 14. WHAT COULD YOUR FUTURE LOOK LIKE? Neuroscience majors have access to a tremendous breadth of careers. You could take the traditional avenues of teaching, re- search or medicine. Or you could pick from an unlimited list of possibilities. In recent years, our students have undertaken a va- riety of pursuits including careers in Biotechnology, Science Pol- icy, Law and Public Health.Come and talk to us about your goals and how to develop a ca- reer path that will blend your interests and skills. Discover our exceptional facilities, find out about our summer research oppor- tunities and meet our faculty. We provide our students with a supportive environment, so that he or she will be successful in their chosen field and make sure that they enjoy themselves dur- ing this formative period of their scientific careers.14 15. HOW TO ENROLL? You must fill out an enrollment form and file it in the pro- gram office (146 Lewis Thomas Laboratory) in order to be en- rolled in the certificate program and to enjoy whatever bene- fits that might entail, including invitations to seminars and access to certain independent research topics. If there are significant changes in your course schedule, or if you decide to discontinue your participation in the program, please let us know. The form is available on the web as well as at 146 Lewis Thomas lab. For more information contact:Professor Michael Berry Co-Director, Program in Neuroscience Professor Elizabeth Gould Co-Director, Program in Neuroscience Megan Lintott Student Services Manager 146 Lewis Thomas Lab [email protected] 16. President Tilghman on Neuroscience: Exploring the Great UnknownPrinceton Alumni Weekly April 5, 2006If I were beginning my scientific career today, I would choose to be a neuroscientist. Many of my former stu- dents have followed this path, and with good reason, for the brain is the most intricate, plastic, and therefore fas- cinating organ in the human body, defining us as indi- viduals and as a species. This extraordinary three-pound mass of tissue, which even the most advanced computers cannot begin to rival, consists of some 100 billion neu- rons, each of which is connected with as many as a 100,000 others, creating the complex and evolving neural patterns and networks that make it possible for us to smell a flower (and register pleasure and not disgust), to remember (or forget) a name, to learn that two times two equals four, to reason or feel (and in what propor- tion), and to spend a third or so of our lives asleep. The scientific questions presented by the human brain are as numerous as they are intriguing, from the nature of con- sciousness, to the biological basis of decision-making, to the characterization of everything from higher order neu- ral circuits to signaling molecules like dopamine. The an- swers we develop in the coming decades will help us all to understand ourselves more fully and find solutions to the neurological disorders that afflict some 50 million Ameri- cans each year.16