Neuroscience
Overview
Neuroscience is the study of the brain and nervous system. It encompasses questions about the structure and function of the nervous system, neural development and plasticity, and how behaviors and cognition arise from the brain. Neuroscience is an inherently multidisciplinary area of study, integrating approaches from a diverse set of fields at many levels of analysis.
Requirements
Minor
Students must complete six neuroscience-related courses to complete the minor. At least three of the classes cannot be counted towards the student’s major and must be classes offered by departments outside the student’s major department. Courses used for a second minor cannot be double-counted for the Neuroscience minor. Students are strongly encouraged to talk with a Neuroscience adviser early in their academic career and to consult the catalog for course prerequisites when planning their Neuroscience minor.
Two Introductory Courses
BIO 130 | Introductory Biology: Cellular and Molecular Biology | 4 units |
COGS 104 | Introduction to Neuroscience | 4 units |
Methods or Statistics Requirement
One methods or statistics course selected from the following:
BIO 268 | Biostatistics | 4 units |
COGS 201 | Empirical Methods in Cognitive Science | 4 units |
COGS 243 | Computational Neuroscience: Minds, Math and Machines | 4 units |
COMP 146 | Statistics | 4 units |
PSYC 200 | Methods in Psychological Science | 4 units |
Neuroscience Elective I
One advanced course in Biology selected from the following:
BIO 320 | Developmental Biology | 4 units |
BIO 333 | Neurobiology | 4 units |
BIO 340 | Sensory Biology and Neurophysiology | 4 units |
Neuroscience Elective II
An advanced course in Cognitive Science or Psychology selected from the following:
PSYC 322 | Physiological Psychology | 4 units |
COGS 320 | Cognitive Neuroscience | 4 units |
PSYC 420 | Psychology of Addiction | 4 units |
Students looking to use COGS 320 to satisfy a minor requirement must also successfully complete COGS 320L.
Neuroscience Elective III
A final elective class can be selected from the 300-level classes listed above in Core Courses or one of the following 200- or 300-level classes in Biology, Cognitive Science, or Psychology.
BIO 221 | Molecular Biology | 4 units |
BIO 224 | Genetic Analysis | 4 units |
BIO 226 | Cell Biology | 4 units |
BIO 240 | Vertebrate Physiology | 4 units |
COGS 230 | Mind, Brain, and Behavior | 4 units |
COGS 242 | Computational Approaches to Cognition | 4 units |
COGS 243 | Computational Neuroscience: Minds, Math and Machines | 4 units |
COGS 270/PSYC 270 | Pain and the Brain | 4 units |
COGS 280 | Food, Drugs, Sex, and the Brain | 4 |
COGS 292 | Brain Plasticity | 4 units |
COGS 298 | Introduction to Neuroimaging: EEG Research and Methods | 4 units |
COGS 303 | Topics in Neuroscience | 4 units |
COGS 346 | Cognition and Deep Learning | 4 |
PSYC 302 | Perception | 4 units |
PSYC 334 | Health Psychology | 4 units |
PSYC 336 | Evolutionary Psychology | 4 units |
PSYC 330 | Abnormal Psychology | 4 units |
Transfer Credit Policies
Courses approved for transfer by the appropriate department or program will be considered to apply toward the Neuroscience minor, subject to the same restrictions that apply to Occidental courses. Students should reference the Transfer Credit section for details.