Behavioral
Neuroscience
Welcome
from the Director
About
the Program
Faculty
Courses
Doctor
of Philosophy
|
Marlene
Oscar Berman, PhD, Program Director
Introduction
The
PhD Program in Behavioral Neuroscience at Boston University School
of Medicine is administered by faculty members of the Department of
Neurology and/or the Division of Psychiatry (many of whom hold joint
appointments at the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] Healthcare
System in Boston and Bedford, Massachusetts).
The focus
of the Program is on the delineation and analysis of perceptual, cognitive,
linguistic, affective, and behavioral disorders observed in neurological
disease, as these disorders contribute to an understanding of normal
brain function and its modification by pathology, both structural and
metabolic. The subject matter derives chiefly, but not exclusively,
from clinical populations with neurological disorders affecting higher
processes, particularly from the study of syndromes involving selective
impairment of functional systems such as memory, emotion, language,
or purposeful movement. In addition, nonhuman animal models are applied
toward understanding brain mechanisms of reinforcement, developmental
anomalies, and intracerebral neuroanatomical connections. Current methods
of clinical assessment, cognitive psychology, experimental design, and
neuroscience are integrated into a broad program of clinical and basic
research leading to the PhD degree.
Only
the doctoral program is offered (no master's degree). Students entering
the doctoral program are expected to have met the requirements for the
baccalaureate degree, and to have completed the courses required for
admission to the Division. Entering students are also expected to have
completed special course requirements for the Behavioral Neuroscience
Program. These courses (or their equivalents) are: biology (one year);
introductory psychology (one year); experimental psychology (one year);
physiological psychology or neuropsychology (one semester); abnormal
psychology (one semester); and statistics (one semester). Prerequisite
courses not completed before registration may be completed while the
candidate is in residence at Boston University School of Medicine, but
may not be presented for graduate credit.
|
