neuroscience phd programs in california

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UCLA Graduate Programs

Graduate Program: Neuroscience

UCLA's Graduate Program in Neuroscience offers the following degree(s):

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

With questions not answered here or on the program’s site (above), please contact the program directly.

Neuroscience Graduate Program at UCLA 1506 Gonda Center Box 951761 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1761

Visit the Neuroscience’s faculty roster

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Visit the registrar's site for the Neuroscience’s course descriptions

• Admission Requirements
• Program Statistics

(310) 206-4407

[email protected]

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Welcome to the Neurosciences Graduate Program

Our doctoral program in neurosciences is an innovative student-centered training initiative that fosters collaboration among the various laboratories, academic departments, and vibrant research community of San Diego.

Admissions Information

Join the next generation of neuroscientists nurtured and shaped by our program

Dynamic Researchers

Our distinguished faculty and affiliate institutions collectively strive to deepen our understanding of the nervous system

Engaged and Collaborative Students

Our graduate students forge an engaged learning community through its a variety of communications, events, and activities.

Fall Admissions

The Fall 2024 application cycle has now closed. Fall 2025 Application Cycle will begin on September 2024. Application deadline is November 29, 2024

Our Application Has Closed.

Upcoming Events

Neuroscience

Graduate Studies

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Master of Science

The Neuroscience Graduate Program is a highly interactive program that provides outstanding training in the neurosciences by a dedicated and internationally recognized faculty. Areas of research include the cellular and molecular structure of neurons, mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, development of the nervous system, organization of brain systems for motor control and processing of visual and auditory information, structure and function of memory and attention systems, and the pathobiology of neurological disorders. In order to understand the biology of learning, memory, language, behavior, disease, and sensory and motor systems, the faculty employs a wide array of techniques. These techniques include molecular genetics, biochemistry, in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological techniques, computational modeling, psychophysics, behavioral assessment, and functional brain imaging. The laboratories participating in the program are richly equipped for the full spectrum of modern neuroscience research. Students have access to cutting-edge equipment such as a multi-photon imaging system, several confocal microscopes, a gene chip array system, shared molecular equipment, a mass spectrometer, electron microscopes, and fMRI and PET scanners.

Graduate Program Requirements

Contact information.

Neuroscience

About the Program

The Neuroscience PhD Program at UC Berkeley is a unique, diverse PhD training program that offers intensive, integrated training in multiple areas of neuroscience research.

The program includes approximately 65 training faculty from different campus departments, with expertise ranging from molecular and cellular neuroscience to systems and computational neuroscience to human cognitive neuroscience.

We provide a highly interdisciplinary, intellectually dynamic training environment of coursework, research training, professional development, and mentoring, within a strong research program that produces fundamental advances in knowledge and novel techniques.

Visit Department Website

Admission to the University

Applying for graduate admission.

Thank you for considering UC Berkeley for graduate study! UC Berkeley offers more than 120 graduate programs representing the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary scholarship. The Graduate Division hosts a complete list of graduate academic programs, departments, degrees offered, and application deadlines can be found on the Graduate Division website.

Prospective students must submit an online application to be considered for admission, in addition to any supplemental materials specific to the program for which they are applying. The online application and steps to take to apply can be found on the Graduate Division website .

Admission Requirements

The minimum graduate admission requirements are:

A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;

A satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale; and

Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field.

For a list of requirements to complete your graduate application, please see the Graduate Division’s Admissions Requirements page . It is also important to check with the program or department of interest, as they may have additional requirements specific to their program of study and degree. Department contact information can be found here .

Where to apply?

Visit the Berkeley Graduate Division application page .

Admission to the Program

Applicants to the program should have a bachelor's degree from a four-year college and at least one year of laboratory experience. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test is optional. For more information on our program requirements go to:  https://neuroscience.berkeley.edu/grad/admissions .

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Normative time requirements, normative time to advancement.

Normative time to advancement is 2 years.

Step I: Lab Rotations and Presentations, First Year Classes

During the first year of graduate study, each neuroscience graduate student spends three 10-week periods performing research projects in different faculty laboratories. Rotations allow students to identify the laboratory in which their thesis research will be performed. The goal is also to expose students to different techniques and approaches in neuroscience and to provide training in experimental design, critical analysis of data, and presentation of research findings. Rotation research is graded and receives academic credit. This is accomplished by enrolling in NEU 291A/B, a year-long course, during the rotation year. Also during the first-year students take NEU 210A/B Methods & Career Skills Classes which  introduce a broad range of modern neuroscience research methods in didactic lectures and provide advising in initial career skills.  NEU  210A (Fall) includes a survey of cutting-edge research methods, advising on how to choose a thesis mentor, training in scientific rigor and reproducibility, and an introduction to the use and misuse of statistics in neuroscience research. NEU  210B (Spring) includes in-depth training on how to give a top-notch scientific talk, advising on how to write effective research papers, and on scientific project management. Additional classes taken during the first year in the program include: at least 2 Foundational Requirement courses, NEU 294 our "Brain Lunch" seminar (more on these below), as well as MCELLBI 293C " Responsible Conduct in Research". MCELLBI 293C is taken during the spring of their first year  to ensure that research trainees receive ample training in Responsible Conduct in Research, and to gain an understanding of federal, state, and UC Berkeley policies and resources available to further support their research endeavors.

Step II: Second Year Classes, QUALIFYING EXAM

Students in the second year of study have been placed in a thesis lab and begin enrolling in NEU 292 Neuroscience Graduate Research and NEU 295 Neuroscience Research Review under their research mentor each semester. They additionally  complete their  Foundational Requirement courses and enroll in NEU 294 our "Brain Lunch" seminar (more on these below) . In the Fall of their second year, students begin their professional development in teaching Neuroscience courses which includes enrolling in a one semester 300-level pedagogy course (more on teaching below). 

During the spring semester of Year 2, students complete an oral qualifying exam.  The examination has three parts: Research Proposal, Related Research Areas, and Foundational Questions in Neuroscience. The research proposal is in the form of a written, NIH-style grant proposal, which is turned in to the committee, and then defended orally. Related Research Areas are identified cooperatively by the student and his/her committee prior to the exam, and are chosen to be complementary to the main research proposal subject. These areas are examined orally. The Foundational Questions in Neuroscience are designed to test broad knowledge in Neuroscience. These are a published list of questions, the same for all students, that are available upon entry to the program. These questions are designed to test basic common knowledge of neuroscience facts and principles, and a subset of them are examined orally during the qualifying exam. During the exam, students must demonstrate the ability to recognize fundamentally important research problems, propose relevant experimental approaches, and display comprehensive knowledge of appropriate disciplinary areas and related subjects.  Students must pass the qualifying examination before advancing to doctoral candidacy.

Normative Time in Candidacy

Normative time in candidacy is 3 years. 

Step III: Dissertation

Students undertake research for the PhD dissertation under a four-person committee in charge of their research and dissertation. Students do original research using a wide variety of cutting-edge neuroscience methods. During this time, students must meet at least annually with their thesis committee to discuss dissertation progress, review experimental results, set goals, and ensure students are adhering to appropriate timelines to completion. The students then write a dissertation based on the results of their research. 

During their time in candidacy, students continue to enroll in NEU 292 Neuroscience Graduate Research and NEU 295 Neuroscience Research Review under their research mentor each semester and complete any remaining course requirements.

STEP IV: Dissertation Presentation/Formal Exit Seminar

There is no formal defense of the completed dissertation. However, Neuroscience students are required to publicly present a thesis seminar about their dissertation research in their final year.  On completion of the research and approval of the dissertation by the committee, the students are awarded the doctorate.

Total Normative Time

Total normative time is 5 years.

Pedagogy, Rotations, Ethics, & Seminar Courses 

Students must take all of the following courses. Pedagogy, Rotations, and Ethics courses are taken in year 1. Brain Lunch Seminar is taken in Years 1, 2, and 4.

Graduate Research and Research Review

Beginning in the second year after placement in a faculty research lab, students enroll in the following two courses under their research mentor each semester until they graduate.

Foundational courses: One Graduate Course in Each category

Students can either take one graduate-level course from each category, or three graduate level courses from two areas, plus a selected advanced undergraduate course from a third area. Graduate level courses are numbered 200 and above. Advanced undergraduate courses are numbered 100-199. They are taken in years 1–2.  Courses offered will vary depending on the semester.  The courses below are samples of courses that fulfill the area requirements.

1. Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Neuroscience

2. Circuits, Systems, and Computational Neuroscience 

3. Cognition, Brain, and  Behavior 

One course on statistical analysis or quantitative methods

Students must complete a 1-semester course in Applied Statistics in Neuroscience, or an equivalent approved course in statistics or quantitative analysis methods. This can be completed at any time prior to the semester of graduation, but is typically taken in years one-three. Students with prior appropriate coursework or whose thesis research uses substantial quantitative methods can use that prior experience to fulfill this requirement, subject to approval by the Head Graduate Adviser.

One Graduate Elective Course

Students must take one additional elective course. This can be either a graduate-level seminar or graduate-level lecture course, and can be 1 unit or more. This is typically taken in years three-four. You may also select a foundation course as an elective. Consult your thesis adviser and thesis committee to select the most appropriate course for you .

Required Professional Development

Presentations.

During their fourth year of study, students are required to make a presentation on the progress of their thesis work while enrolling in NEU 294 (Neuroscience Graduate Student Presentation Seminar, also known as "Brain Lunch"), a journal club, for a letter grade.

Neuroscience students are required to serve as graduate student instructors (GSIs) within the Neuroscience department for two semesters. Whenever possible, GSI assignments are determined with an eye toward student research interests. Teaching occurs during one semester of the second year and one semester of the third year. Teaching affords students supervised experience in a variety of educational situations, including labs, discussion sections, and demonstrations. GSIs also participate in record-keeping, grading, advising, and student consultations.

To help prepare students to GSI, students participate in a one day teaching conference and take an online teaching ethics course prior to teaching their first course. In addition, students enroll in a one semester pedagogy course to provide them with an orientation to the teaching strategies and methods of their discipline and to support them throughout their first semester of teaching.  GSIs are evaluated by both supervising faculty and the students they teach. These evaluations become a permanent part of the student file. Deserving GSIs are nominated for the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award.

NEU 210A Neuroscience Research Design and Analysis 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024 Professional core competency training for graduate students involved in neuroscience research at Berkeley. Includes survey of modern research methods, and professional skills including principles of experimental design and data reproducibility. Neuroscience Research Design and Analysis: Read More [+]

Rules & Requirements

Prerequisites: Restricted to 1st year PhD students in Neuroscience-related PhD Programs (Neuroscience PhD Program, MCB PhD Program, Psychology PhD Program, Biophysics PhD Program), or permission of instructor

Hours & Format

Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 1.5 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: One and one-half hours of lecture per week for 8 weeks.

Additional Details

Subject/Course Level: Neuroscience/Graduate

Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.

Instructors: Feldman, Neuroscience Graduate Advisors, Guest faculty speakers

Formerly known as: Neuroscience 290A

Neuroscience Research Design and Analysis: Read Less [-]

NEU 210B Neuroscience Career Skills 1 Unit

Terms offered: Not yet offered Professional core competency training for graduate students involved in neuroscience research at Berkeley. Includes training in giving scientific presentations, scientific writing, and project management. Neuroscience Career Skills: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1.5 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: One and one-half hours of student presentation and discussion meetings per week for 6 - 11 weeks depending on the number of students enrolled in the course.

Formerly known as: Neuroscience 290B

Neuroscience Career Skills: Read Less [-]

NEU C241 Proseminar: Cognition, Brain, and Behavior 3 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered A survey of the field of biological psychology. Areas covered are (a) cognitive neuroscience; (b) biological bases of behavior; (c) sensation and perception (d) learning and memory, (e) thought and language. Proseminar: Cognition, Brain, and Behavior: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture per week.

Grading: Letter grade.

Formerly known as: Psychology 210A

Also listed as: PSYCH C210A

Proseminar: Cognition, Brain, and Behavior: Read Less [-]

NEU 242 Reinforcement Learning and Decision-making 3 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered The focus of the course is on weekly readings of recent papers in Reinforcement Learning and Decision-Making. The instructors have created a topical list of recent papers published in leading journals. We selected the papers because they sounded important and/or interesting. We have not necessarily read them. This should help you to not only learn about the field, but also learn to spot and critique a bad paper. Typical topics that are covered include: dopamine and temporal difference learning, model-based learning, cognitive maps in the hippocampus and beyond, economic choice, and the role of replay. Reinforcement Learning and Decision-making: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: NEU 100B or equivalent undergraduate-level systems and cognitive neuroscience courses

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Two hours of seminar per week.

Reinforcement Learning and Decision-making: Read Less [-]

NEU 250 Circuit and Systems Neuroscience 3 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered This is a graduate-level course on current topics in circuit and systems neuroscience. Topics include sensory coding, neural circuit computations, plasticity and learning, hippocampal function, motor control, and circuits for innate behaviors. Circuit and Systems Neuroscience: Read More [+]

Formerly known as: Molecular and Cell Biology C262/Neuroscience C262

Circuit and Systems Neuroscience: Read Less [-]

NEU 260 Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024 This course covers molecular and cellular aspects of cellular excitability (including membrane potential, action potential generation, spike propagation, and ion channel structure and function), synaptic transmission and plasticity, and sensory systems. Primary reading material will be research papers. We will provide references to textbook chapters for background and review. This will be an interactive course in which you will be expected to be an active participa nt. Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: NEU 100A or equivalent undergraduate-level molecular and cellular neuroscience course

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for NEU 261 after completing MCELLBI C261 .

Formerly known as: Neuroscience 261

Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology: Read Less [-]

NEU C272 Modern Optical Microscopy for the Modern Biologist 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023 This course is intended for graduate students in the early stages of their thesis research who are contemplating using modern microscopy tools as part of their work. It endeavors to cut through the confusion of the wide array of new imaging methods, with a practical description of the pros and cons of each. In addition to providing an intuitive physical understanding how these microscopes work, the course will offer hands on experience with cutting-edge microscopes where students will be able to see firsthand how different imaging modalities perform on their own samples, and where they will be able to access computational tools for the visualization and analysis of their data. Modern Optical Microscopy for the Modern Biologist: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for MCELLBI 205 after completing MCELLBI 205, or MCELLBI 205. A deficient grade in MCELLBI 205 may be removed by taking MCELLBI 205, or MCELLBI 205.

Instructors: Betzig, Ji

Formerly known as: Molecular and Cell Biology 205

Also listed as: MCELLBI C205/PHYSICS C218

Modern Optical Microscopy for the Modern Biologist: Read Less [-]

NEU 273 Seminars 2 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered This intermediate-level statistics class is tailored for PhD students in neuroscience and related fields, emphasizing a collaborative learning approach. Led by a GSI with faculty oversight, students actively engage in discussions, presentations, and exercises. The course focuses on understanding statistical methods' applications, assumptions, and limitations in neuroscience research, as well as their implementation in Python. Covering traditional statistics and data modeling, students learn to analyze data and design experiments effectively. It's a dynamic format that requires students' active participation and commitment to reading and practical exercises. Seminars: Read More [+]

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Three hours of seminar per week.

Seminars: Read Less [-]

NEU 290 Seminars 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered Course that focuses on topical subjects in specific fields of neuroscience. Seminars: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-3 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: One to three hours of seminar per week.

Formerly known as: Neuroscience 299

NEU 291A Neuroscience Introduction to Research 4 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024 Closely supervised, intensive laboratory experimental research under the direction of an individual faculty member. For first-year neuroscience graduate students, this course will provide an introduction to experimental methods and research approaches in the different areas of neuroscience. Course sequence includes 3 ten-week laboratory rotations spread out over the fall and spring semesters. Credit and grade to be awarded upon completion of the full sequence. Neuroscience Introduction to Research: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Graduate standing in Neuroscience Graduate Group; consent of instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 12-36 hours of laboratory per week

Additional Format: Twelve to thirty six hours of laboratory per week.

Grading: Letter grade. This is part one of a year long series course. A provisional grade of IP (in progress) will be applied and later replaced with the final grade after completing part two of the series.

Formerly known as: Neuroscience 291A

Neuroscience Introduction to Research: Read Less [-]

NEU 291B Neuroscience Introduction to Research 4 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered Closely supervised, intensive laboratory experimental research under the direction of an individual faculty member. For first-year neuroscience graduate students, this course will provide an introduction to experimental methods and research approaches in the different areas of neuroscience. Course sequence includes 3 ten-week laboratory rotations spread out over the fall and spring semesters. Credit and grade to be awarded upon completion of the full sequence . Neuroscience Introduction to Research: Read More [+]

Grading: Letter grade. This is part two of a year long series course. Upon completion, the final grade will be applied to both parts of the series.

Formerly known as: Neuroscience 291B

NEU 294 Neuroscience Graduate Student Presentation Seminar 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024 This course provides a holistic approach to graduate neuroscience education, with a focus on three key areas: 1) Improving research presentation skills: Fourth and fifth-year students present seminars on their dissertation research, emphasizing conceptual organization, data presentation, and summarization. 2) Exploring current neuroscience topics: Faculty speakers discuss advanced technical methods, analytical techniques, and preparing grant applications. 3) Seminar readiness: Students engage with seminar speakers during class sessions, reviewing articles authored by upcoming speakers and related publications. Neuroscience Graduate Student Presentation Seminar: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Graduate student standing

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of seminar per week

Additional Format: One hour of seminar per week.

Formerly known as: Neuroscience 294

Neuroscience Graduate Student Presentation Seminar: Read Less [-]

NEU 295 Neuroscience Research Review 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024 For graduate students in neuroscience in their second or later years. Two hours of seminar per week which complements the individual laboratory work under faculty supervision. Seminar will review current scientific literature and discuss original research performed by faculty, postdoctoral fellows, scientists, and graduate students in individual faculty laboratories. Neuroscience Research Review: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Concurrent enrollment in 292; graduate standing in the neuroscience program; consent of instructor

Summer: 6 weeks - 5 hours of seminar per week 8 weeks - 3.5 hours of seminar per week 10 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Two hours of seminar per week. Three hours of seminar per week for 10 weeks. Three and one-half hours of seminar per week for 8 weeks. Five hours of seminar per week for 6 weeks.

Formerly known as: Neuroscience 293

Neuroscience Research Review: Read Less [-]

NEU 296 Neuroscience Colloquium 0.0 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered Meetings for the presentation of original work by faculty, visiting lecturers, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. Neuroscience Colloquium: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1.5 hours of colloquium per week

Additional Format: One and one-half hours of colloquium per week.

Neuroscience Colloquium: Read Less [-]

Contact Information

Department of neuroscience.

134 Barker Hall

[email protected]

Department Chair

Dan Feldman

130 Barker Hall

[email protected]

Program Director/Head Graduate Advisor

Frédéric Theunissen

[email protected]

Graduate Program Manager/Advisor

Leleña Avila

Graduate Program Coordinator/Advisor

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CBS Graduate Group Staff, Faculty Recognized for Exceptional Service and Mentorship

• by Trishna Sharma
• September 14, 2023

Creativity and Commitment: Fellows to Present on Efforts to Foster Diversity and Inclusivity

• June 01, 2023

In the College of Biological Sciences, principles of diversity, equity and inclusion are guiding principles.

$15 Million Grant to Renew Center Studying Effects of Maternal Infections on Offspring

• April 07, 2021
• Human & Animal Health

By Evan White

Discovering how infections during pregnancy, such as COVID-19 and influenza, can lead to psychiatric illness and developmental disorders in offspring years later, and how to detect, prevent or treat these disorders, is the subject of a $15.7 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to the Conte Center at the University of California, Davis.

The UC Davis Conte Center, organized through the Center for Neuroscience, was originally established with an NIH grant in 2016. This grant renews the center’s funding for another five years.

Prize for Neuroscience Graduate Student Studying Psychedelics

• April 05, 2021
• Awards and Recognition

Lindsay Cameron, a neuroscience Ph.D. student, was among this year's 13 recipients of the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award. 

Perception Inception: Exploring How the Brain Makes Up the World with New Faculty Rishidev Chaudhuri

• by Gregory D Watry
• November 19, 2019

“This table feels hard,” said Assistant Professor Rishidev Chaudhuri, who sat in his office at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. “That’s something that emerges at the collective population level.”

How individual particles come together to spontaneously create new structures is a question pondered by many physicists. The concept underlying that question—collective behavior—also intrigues neuroscientists.

Neuroscience Graduate Program

College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

Our Mission

The Interdepartmental Ph.D Program in Neuroscience at UC Riverside is aimed at providing high quality graduate training for students who come from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds but share a commitment and an intense interest in nervous system research.

Chair's Welcome

Welcome to the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside! It's a great time to be interested in our program because UCR is currently expanding, particularly in the sciences. Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary approach to understanding nervous systems at levels ranging from the molecular and cellular to the behavioral and cognitive. The program aims to provide high quality graduate training for students who come from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds but share an intense interest in nervous system research. Our goal is to prepare students for high impact careers in research and teaching, as well as in scientific administration.

Graduate Curriculum

Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary approach to understanding nervous systems at levels ranging from the molecular and cellular to the whole organism. The goal of this Program is to prepare students for careers in research, teaching and/or scientific administration. Students are expected to learn the fundamentals of Neuroscience, starting with a required core sequence, become knowledgeable in a range of research methods as taught in immersive 5-10 week long research rotations, and demonstrate capability in original research.

Science News:

Neuroscience

Preparing for the Future

The Graduate Program

Graduate training leading to the ph.d in neuroscience at the university of california, riverside.

The Graduate Neuroscience Program at UCR trains students to use a multidisciplinary approach to understand brain and behavior. Opportunities for training encompass multiple levels of analyses ranging from molecular and cellular to circuits and networks to cognition and behavior. The goal of our Program is to prepare students for careers in research, teaching, industry and scientific administration. Students are expected to learn the fundamentals of Neuroscience, starting with a required core sequence, become knowledgeable concerning a range of research methods and demonstrate capability in original research. The specific research training received by a graduate student is the responsibility of the major professor/mentor under whose guidance and in whose laboratory the student carries out the research projects leading to the degree. Students will benefit from an interdisciplinary training approach, tailored by the major advisor, but enriched by the readily available expertise and laboratory facilities of faculty with backgrounds ranging from chemistry to psychology. In addition to this training, we make students explore various careers open to neuroscientists through outside speakers and professional development forums.         

The Interdepartmental Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience at UCR is aimed at providing high quality graduate training for students who come from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds but share a commitment and an intense interest in nervous system research. We currently have 45 faculty members with expertise in various aspects of Neuroscience and whose principal appointments are in the Departments of Bioengineering, Biology, Molecular, Cellular and Systems Biology, Chemistry, Entomology, Psychology, and the Division of Biomedical Sciences

A major part of training in Neuroscience is in supervised laboratory research, the student working with one or more of the Neuroscience faculty. Applicants are encouraged to make contact with faculty members whose work may correspond closely to their own individual interests. Contact information for each faculty member are given in the following pages. Applicants may also contact:

Antonio Knox, Graduate Student Services Advisor

Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience 1140 Batchelor Hall University of California Riverside, CA 92521 (951) 827-6746  | TOLL FREE: (800) 735-0717 Email:  [email protected]

• First Year Students:  Declare a Rotation
• 2017-18 Neuroscience Graduate Student Handbook
• 2016-17 Neuroscience Graduate Student Handbook (pdf format)
• UCR International Services Center

Students are normally supported for five years of graduate training. Eligibility for admission and financial support is determined on the basis of a number of factors including appropriate courses, grade point average, strong letters of recommendation and personal statements. Prior research experience at the undergraduate level is deemed highly desirable.

Doctoral Degree in Neuroscience

Core requirements include:

• NRSC/PSYC 200A, 200B, 200C (Fundamentals of Neuroscience)
• One Research Methods course selected from NRSC 201 (Graduate Neuro Lab), CBNS/PSYC 120L (Undergraduate Neuro Lab), CHEM 125, CHEM 221A, CHEM 221B, CHEM 221C, CHEM 221D, PSYC 211, PHYS 139L
• Two courses or one course sequence selected from the following: CBNS 127, PSYC 203A, PSYC 203B, PSYC 203C, BCH 110A-BCH 110B-BCH 110C, BIOL/CMDB 200, BIOL/CMDB 201, BCH 241/CHEM 241, BIOL 203, BMSC 210A, BMSC 210B, BMSC 220, BMSC 230, ENTM 206 and ENTM 206L, CBNS 120.  Which of these course options are most appropriate to the student's career goals will be determined by the student in consultation with his/her guidance committee.
• During each quarter in academic residence every student will enroll and participate in the Colloquium in Neuroscience (NRSC 287), and, until passing the oral qualifying examination, every student will take at least two seminars, Special Topics in Neuroscience (NRSC 289, 2 units), during each year of academic residence.  One seminar per year will be required after the qualifying examination is passed.
• After completing the course requirements and no later than the ninth quarter in residence, the student will be given a two-part qualifying examination, one written and one oral.
• Regardless of whether financial support comes from Fellowships or Research Assistantships, etc., each student will be required to be a Teaching Assistant for at least two quarters in Neuroscience or related-area courses, such as those taught by their mentors.
• Within three months of advancement to candidacy, the student will be required to submit a written dissertation proposal to the Dissertation Committee for comments and approval. Before the dissertation is given final approval, the student must present a public lecture on the dissertation research to faculty and students in the program. Following the public lecture, the student will meet with the Dissertation Committee for an oral defense in accordance with the regulations of the Graduate Division.

The normative time to the Ph.D. degree is 16 quarters.

Social and Decision Neuroscience PhD Program

The Caltech PhD program in social and decision neuroscience (SDN) prepares students to do research on the neurocomputational basis of decision making and social interactions.

SDN includes faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students from a variety of disciplines who are interested in how humans decide what to do in response to a range of decisions with important personal consequences. How do people make simple choices, such as choosing what to eat from a restaurant menu? How do we learn from trial-and-error behavior to make decisions in the future? How do people decide who might help or harm them? How do emotions such as fear and anxiety work biologically and change behavior? How does the brain process information and control emotions in complex markets like stocks? What factors influence candidate appeal and voting in politics?

Research in this area requires training in computational modeling, statistical methods, systems neuroscience, and neural measuring methods such as fMRI, EEG, or single unit recordings, as well as adequate understanding of related methods and results from the social sciences.

Students' career paths include faculty jobs in neuroscience, psychology, or marketing; faculty jobs in economics, political science, or finance programs; and industry positions in the technology, data science, finance, and neurotechnology sectors.

Neuroscience Graduate Programs

Discover the ideal graduate program for your neuroscience training.

Dynamical Neuroscience

Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

Psychological & Brain Sciences

•   Bethany Innocenti
•   +1 805-893-4963
•   [email protected]
• Information
• Terms of Use

UCSB Neuroscience • UC Santa Barbara 2022 © Regents of the University of California

More than 100 USC Neuroscience faculty conduct basic, translational and clinical research in areas ranging from the molecules that determine neuronal function to the mechanisms that underlie human cognition and emotion. Our training faculty members are interdisciplinary by nature, and thus may be listed in several topic areas. Find out more about ongoing Neuroscience research at USC in each of the following major topic areas:

Systems, Cognitive and Behavioral

Research in Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience at USC has the overall goal of investigating the function and structural organization of neural circuits during development and in adults.

Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology

Training faculty investigate the mechanisms that shape neural signaling by studying how molecules work together in space and time to regulate the functional properties of neurons. The also utilize advanced cellular and molecular imaging and bioassay techniques to decipher the mechanisms through which neurons and glia mature and interact in building functional circuits.

Development, Plasticity and Repair

Research in developmental neurobiology, plasticity and nervous system repair examines the underlying molecular and cellular mechanism of typical development and environment-induced plasticity, as well as factors that result in atypical assembly of circuits and systems and problems with plasticity. Studies focus on understanding the decisions that stem cells make to generate neuronal and non-neuronal diversity, to the factors that control neuronal migration, synaptogenesis, dendritic growth and remodeling, and adaptive responses due to genetic and environmental challenges.

Computational Neuroscience and Neural Engineering

NGP Training faculty members are heavily engaged in research in Computational Neuroscience and Neural Engineering. There a strong emphasis on computer-based and other advanced technologies to study information processing functions of the brain.

Neurobiology of Disease, Translational Research and Aging

Translational research in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at USC refers to a broad interdisciplinary approach in understanding fundamental mechanisms involved in the Neurobiology of Diseases. We have a large number of faculty that have at least part of their research program engaged in understanding how to translate basic discoveries to inform the clinical challenges of human nervous system disorders and diseases. Studies are done that impact the lives of children, adolescents and adults.

Behavioral Neuroscience

Information about the Behavioral Neuroscience Graduate Major.

Shepherd Ivory Franz, a pioneer in performing the first systematic studies on the effects of brain lesions on learning in animals, was the first chairman of the UCLA Department of Psychology. Franz encouraged an emphasis on physiological psychology within the Department, and this policy has been continued by each successive chairman. This commitment was further strengthened by a decision of the Regents of the University of California to make the Los Angeles campus especially strong in research pertaining to the structure and functions of the brain. Later, with the establishment of an on-campus major medical school and the founding of the Brain Research Institute, UCLA became a world leader in the neurobiological study of behavior. Some of the most distinguished scientists in this field are working here, and many more are attracted each year to do research or to visit and discuss their work. The Psychology Department both contributes to and profits from this strength, and has committed itself to continued excellence and growth in this direction.

Graduate students in the behavioral neuroscience program are encouraged to avail themselves of some of the many life science lecture and laboratory courses and seminars open to them. Through these and frequent colloquia presented by visiting scientists, students receive instruction in the methods and findings of past and recent years and are kept apprised of the most important current developments and future research trends. Along with the selected program of coursework, students are generally engaged in research under the supervision of one or more members of the area’s faculty or in the Brain Research Institute. A wide variety of research experience is possible, and during the initial years of graduate work, a student may be exposed to research experiences in several different laboratories.

More Behavioral Neuroscience Information

• For a list of Required Courses please see the  Psychology Handbook

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• Neuroscience

Neuroscience Graduate Program

The Next Frontier in Biomedical Science: Understanding the Human Brain

Our program of advanced study of the nervous system prepares doctoral students for careers in independent research and teaching in neurobiology. We seek to provide intensive training in one particular approach to neurobiological research, while also providing a strong background in other areas of neurobiology. We promote collaborative research efforts among the different disciplines to maximize the interdisciplinary nature of the student's education.

Baylor College of Medicine is ranked second in the nation in funding for neuroscience research from the National Institutes of Health.

We have state-of-the-art research facilities for molecular neurobiology, neurochemistry, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, biophysics, behavioral neuroscience, optical imaging, functional human brain imaging and computer science.

Our interdisciplinary faculty includes basic scientists and clinicians applying multiple levels of analysis including biochemical, molecular, cellular, physiological, systems and theoretical approaches to investigate brain function.

Your fellow students will be your first scientific colleagues. Our students have diverse backgrounds and interests.

Neuroscience News

From my perspective: amanda brown shares her experiences as a graduate student at baylor.

From the Labs interviewed  Amanda Brown  to learn about what drives her fascination with science, her interest in science communication and her future plans in academia. See the interview  and read this article on recent about Brown’s work on the role of Purkinje cells in tremors.

Brain tumors trigger silencing of neuronal activity

Sudden episodes of confusion and seizures often are the first signs of a malignant brain tumor. Using glioma mouse models, researchers detected waves of ultra-slow depolarization arising from the tumor margin. In the current study, researchers detected the depolarizing waves earlier than previously found, during a reproducible progression of inhibitory cell loss, glutamate dysregulation and inflammation in the tumor margin, and found that this excitability progressed more slowly when the tumor grew in a host brain that is genetically resistant to seizures. 

Like a mastermind of its own destiny, glioma sets a stage that favors its own growth

BCM researchers and colleagues uncovered evidence about how glioma manipulates its environment in ways that favor its own growth. This research, published in  Nature , suggests new strategies to treat patients with this condition, one of the most aggressive malignant primary brain tumors.

Connecting Zika virus, hereditary microcephaly

Understanding how Zika virus causes microcephaly would hint at possibilities for preventing this irreparable condition in newborns. Heading in that direction, a collaboration between Baylor College of Medicine and the University of California, San Francisco has revealed interesting insights into the interactions between Zika virus proteins and host proteins, including human proteins.

Item Term Putting mind, heart together

Despite rapid advances in the field of neuroscience, only a limited number of cell types in the brain are known and well characterized. In this study, researchers described an innovative approach that identified novel cellular targets and genetic pathways involved in the wiring of adult-born neurons into brain circuits. Baylor graduate student Burak Tepe was one of the primary authors of this paper.

Making moves, memories, are they connected?

Baylor researchers have found the first direct evidence that the cerebellum does more than just control muscle activity. It also plays a role in cognitive functions.

Sample size matters in multisensory integration studies

The accuracy and reproducibility of research studies are a major concern of the scientific community. Baylor researchers are examining this problem in the field of multisensory integration to understand how it affects both basic research and the development of therapies.

He said/she said about body weight control

When male and female mice eat the same high-fat diet, the males gain significantly more weight than the females. The reasons for this difference between sexes are not completely understood, but Baylor's  Dr. Yong Xu  and his colleagues propose that part of the answer may be in the brain.

From the Labs

Subscribe to our blog to stay up-to-date on all the latest research news from Baylor College of Medicine.

The Neuroscience graduate program is part of the Baylor College of Medicine Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Visit the GSBS website for more information about our curriculum and admissions process as well as to find resources and services designed to support your success throughout graduate school and your future career.

Stipends and Benefits

At BCM we are focused on you and your training. If your vision for your future includes teaching, you may choose to gain experience as a teaching assistant. If you do not want to teach, you have the freedom to focus exclusively on your education and research as well as to work with your mentor to take advantage of other BCM resources that match your interests.

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The Graduate School

Neuroscience

Doctor of Philosophy

• Augusta University
• PhD in Neuroscience

With a doctorate in Neuroscience , you’ll be prepared to take your understanding of neurobiology and neurological disorders to careers in academia, government, biotech, and the pharmaceutical industry.

The program offers coursework and research experience from basic research and a clinical perspective. More than 25 neuroscientists provide research opportunities in areas including spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease.

By choosing to earn your doctorate in Neuroscience from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, you’ll be joining a highly collaborative program with dynamic opportunities for translational research.

Neuroscience is for you if you consider yourself

Want to learn more about the Neuroscience program at Augusta University?

Biomed Program

[email protected]

(706) 721- 9516

What You'll Study

Students in Augusta University’s Doctor of Philosophy program with a major in Neuroscience are admitted via a common admissions process to the Biomedical Sciences doctoral program. After completing the first-year core coursework and laboratory rotations, students choose a dissertation research mentor and enter the Neuroscience program.

The average time to complete the degree is approximately five years of full-time, year-round study.

Curriculum | Admissions Criteria | Tuition and Fees | Application Deadlines

EXPLORE. EXCEL. EXPAND.

Graduate School Advantage

Augusta University's graduate programs are among the best in the nation – and the world – and our graduate students are our most valuable assets. To ensure that our students earn more than a degree, the Graduate School offers a range of opportunities so they can develop the leadership, communication and personal skills needed for a rewarding life and academic, research or professional career.

See what the Graduate School has to offer »

Experience-based Education

Outside the Classroom

Students can attend weekly Lunch and Learn sessions with world-class scientists, gaining exposure to the latest scientific discoveries and benefiting from exceptional networking opportunities.

Mentored rotations in neurology clinics allow students the chance to participate in translational research.

Access to the world-class research technology available at Augusta University gives students the chance to make significant contributions to discovery and scholarship.

Clinical Collaborations

The program combines clinical and basic neuroscience resources to give students the widest possible research opportunities.

Rich History

As the state’s only public medical school, MCG is recognized as Georgia’s leading provider of physicians and receives millions in funding each year from the NIH.

Student Success

Graduates of the program are working in industry, government, and scientific writing, as well as many of the country's top academic institutions. 

Accomplished Faculty

Internationally recognized faculty conduct groundbreaking research in a collaborative and supportive research environment.

Your Future

Career Options

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for medical scientists is projected to rise much faster than average through 2031.

In 2021, the median pay for a medical scientist was $95,310 per year.

Student Stories

The faculty and student interactions are all so enjoyable. We are able to be comfortable and confident in a professional setting while still being able to make mistakes, ask questions, have fun, learn, and grow as scientists.

Julie Vincent

My research area is neuronal reprogramming, which is a cutting-edge technology that facilitates potential treatment for patients with spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative diseases.

Natalie Mseis-Jackson

Admissions Criteria at a Glance

GPA: Overall GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale at the Baccalaureate level calculated on all undergraduate work.

Degree Requirement: Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent from an accredited college or university.

Transcripts: Official transcripts are required from all universities and colleges ever attended. Unofficial transcripts from US colleges and universities can be used in the admissions review process in lieu of official transcripts for this program.

Standardized Test Requirements: None are required for this program.

Letters of Recommendation: Recommendations from three individuals must be submitted through the application portal.

Resume: Applicants must submit a resume or curriculum vitae within the application portal.

Research Experience: Research experience is  required   for admission.   Applicants will provide a personal statement that includes a summary and description of your research experience in the application portal.

International Students: Please review the verification process for international transcripts and the english proficiency requirement .

Tuition & Fees Estimate

Estimated total Full-time / In-State / Per Semester

Tuition Per Hour

Mandatory Fees

View Detailed Program Tuition  

*Tuition & Fees listed here are for in-state students enrolling in the university for Fall 2024 semester.

Please visit the Graduate School for detailed admission criteria and important application process information .

Application Deadlines

Fall '24 early deadline.

• December 1, 2023

Fall '24 Standard Deadline

• December 15, 2023

Early submission of all application materials is strongly advised.

All required application materials and documents must be received in order for an application to be considered complete and before an admission decision can be made. The program does not accept applications after the published application deadline, however the program will continue to accept application materials up to 2 weeks after the application deadline.

Learning Like No Other

Why augusta.

Strong technology resources allow you to perform cutting-edge neuroscience research.

Weekly seminars and the annual Brain Aging Research Symposium provide excellent opportunities for you to learn from — and network with — world-class researchers from around the world.

Studying at Augusta University’s Health Sciences Campus puts you at the center of its biomedical research enterprise, with access to the Georgia Cancer Center, the Medical College of Georgia, and the state’s only public academic medical center.

Knights Templar Foundations have been impacting ophthalmology in Georgia for decades

“I think the best legacy any of us can hope for is to impact more Georgians."

MCG scientists identify new treatment target for leading cause of blindness

“We show, for the first time in this study, that many fibroblast cells are actually produced by these excessive endothelial cells. We must find a way to prevent this from happening,” said Yuqing Huo, MD.

MCG scientists establish protein database to advance vision research

This new database will help eliminate that problem and includes data from 307 human AH samples, comprehensive information on 1,683 proteins identified in the AH, as well as relevant clinical data for each analyzed sample.

Medical College of Georgia researcher awarded $2.8 million NCI grant

The grant awarded for Chadli’s research focuses on a specific protein, UNC45A, that can be used as a promising novel immunotherapeutic target in treating triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

The Graduate School prepares successful and innovative leaders, scholars, researchers, educators and clinicians to advance their field and impact their community and the world. Currently, The Graduate School offers over 45 graduate degree and advanced certificate programs. The wide range of doctoral, specialist and master’s degree programs, as well as graduate certificate programs offered, provide outstanding training, research, clinical and educational opportunities.

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Caltech Honors Graduates at 130th Commencement Ceremony

On Friday, June 14, Caltech celebrated its 130th Commencement ceremony, awarding 236 bachelor's degrees, 156 master's degrees, and 200 doctoral degrees to a total of 585 graduates.

The class of 2024 has faced unique challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so this year's event proved particularly celebratory. For many of the undergraduates, today's Commencement ceremony marked their first opportunity to commemorate such a significant milestone in person after missing out on high school graduations and beginning their Caltech journey virtually. Graduate students also relished the moment, remembering the obstacles they had to overcome during their degree programs.

At the ceremony, keynote speaker Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, delivered a thoughtful address to graduates. NVIDIA, a pioneer in accelerated computing, is one of the most valuable companies in the world and is credited with inventing graphics processing units (GPUs), which have helped fuel the artificial intelligence revolution.

Huang, who has been listed more than once as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People," shared stories from his 31 years at NVIDIA, articulating lessons learned and advice to graduates entering a rapidly evolving world.

He spoke about the historic trajectory of computation, from the advent of the IBM System/360 in the 1980s to AlexNet in 2016, a groundbreaking convolutional neural network that was trained using NVIDIA GPUs.

"We saw the potential of deep learning and believed in it," said Huang. "No one knew how far deep learning could scale, but if we didn't build it, we would never know."

Huang emphasized how NVIDIA reinvented itself at every turn, pushing the frontiers of advanced computation and revolutionizing the industry through both graphics processing and supercomputers used to train AI models like ChatGPT. He urged graduates to be nimble in the face of change.

"The computer industry is transforming from its foundations," he said. "Computers today are the single most important instrument of knowledge and are foundational to every single industry and every field of science. If we're transforming the computer so profoundly, it will, of course, have implications in every industry."

Huang also reminded graduates to remain committed to their work and to face challenges with resolve.

"I hope you believe in something—something unconventional, something unexplored," he said. "But let it be informed and let it be reasoned. Then, dedicate yourself to making it happen. You may find your GPU. You may find your CUDA [NVIDIA's parallel computing platform and programming model]. You may find your generative AI. You may find your NVIDIA. I hope you'll see setbacks as new opportunities. Your pain and suffering will strengthen your character, your resilience, and agility, and they are your ultimate superpowers."

Dave Thompson (MS '78), chair of the Caltech Board of Trustees, congratulated graduates at the ceremony and welcomed special guests: members of the first class of undergraduate women to enter Caltech in 1970, many of whom were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their graduation. He invited them to stand and be recognized.

"They started something that has become really big," Thompson said. "To date, nearly 3,000 women have earned their undergraduate degrees from the Institute. In addition, some 1,700 women have earned their doctorates here at Caltech. And let's not forget that about 1,500 women have undertaken postdoctoral work at Caltech just in the last 25 years. Moreover, many distinguished women are currently part of Caltech's faculty and leadership team."

Thompson also reflected on the past year of breakthroughs at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which Caltech manages for NASA. Among many accomplishments, he highlighted the application of AI to better predict monsoon patterns and cancer cases that are likely to metastasize , the development of a catalyst that improves the safety and environmental impact of a common chemical production process, and the launch of the Psyche spacecraft to explore a metal-rich asteroid.

The Institute awarded bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees to much fanfare from the crowd, including traditional celebrations from several undergraduate houses. For Venerable House graduates, train whistles were blown; for Lloyd House, a gong was rung; for Dabney House, housemates clapped rhythmically and sounded a Viking horn; for Avery House, a triangle was played; for Blacker House, a recording of the sound of a saw was played; and for Fleming House, the Fleming Cannon was fired three times during the ceremony and once at its conclusion.

After the conferral of degrees, Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum awarded four special prizes and shared a message with the Institute's newest alumni, congratulating them and urging them to balance innovation and progress with a responsibility to society.

"You graduate at a time when change in science and technology and in society is accelerating at breakneck speed," Rosenbaum said.

"With change comes responsibility. As scientists and engineers, we are trained to employ AI and machine learning across a broad spectrum of applications and to understand their potential, both to improve the human condition and to cause harm. We have a responsibility not only for reflection but for action, a responsibility to evaluate premises using data and evidence, and a responsibility to situate discovery in a broad societal context."

He closed with a charge to graduates:

"As you embark on your new beginnings, you have the freedom to reimagine the shape of your lives and the directions of society. Change is manifest and inevitable, but it will not be powerful except in the context of our defining values. Congratulations!"

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Is there a link between hotter temps and increased migraine headaches?

Vincent martin, md, presents migraine research at the annual american headache society meeting.

As temperatures rise, so do chances for migraine attacks, according to a new study from a team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Errex Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA. Inc.

“Weather change is one of the most common trigger factors for migraine,” says Vincent Martin, MD, director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at UC's Gardner Neuroscience Institute and UC Health physician. He is the study’s lead author and president of the National Headache Foundation.

These findings from the study, which looked at use of Fremanezumab and whether it could prevent headaches caused by temperature increases, will be presented at the American Headache Society’s 66th Annual Scientific Meeting, June 13-16 in San Diego, California. 

Produced by Teva Pharmaceuticals USA. Inc., Fremanezumab is sold under the brand name AJOVY®, administered by injection under the skin, and is part of a set of monoclonal antibodies that have hit the market in the past six years to treat migraine in patients. This class of drugs blocks a protein known as CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide) which is responsible for transmission of pain in the brain and nervous system.

Vincent Martin, MD, professor of medicine, is director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. Photo by Joe Fuqua/UC Marketing + Brand.

Researchers cross-referenced 71,030 daily diary records of 660 migraine patients with regional weather data and found that for every temperature increase of 10 degrees Fahrenheit daily, there was a 6% increase in occurrence of any headache. However, during the time periods of Fremanezumab treatment the association completely disappeared.

“This study is the first to suggest that migraine specific therapies that block CGRP may treat weather associated headaches,” says Fred Cohen, a study co-author and assistant professor of medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, NY.

Martin adds that if the results are confirmed in future studies the drug therapy has the potential to help many people with weather triggered migraine.

“What we found was that increases in temperature were a significant factor in migraine occurrence across all regions of the United States,” says Martin, also a professor within UC's College of Medicine. “It’s pretty amazing because you think of all the varying weather patterns that occur across the entire country that we’re able to find one that is so significant.”

Al Peterlin, who retired as chief meteorologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and co-author of the study, added another thought.

"Hippocrates, the father of medicine, believed that weather and medicine were intimately linked," he says. "A couple thousand of years later, we are proving that weather matters in human health."

Vincent Martin, MD, is a UC Health physician and president of the National Headache Foundation. Photo by Joe Fuqua/UC Marketing + Brand.

Other authors include Di Zhang, Mario Ortega and Ying Zhang, PhD.

The research study was funded by Teva Pharmaceuticals USA. Inc.  Medical writing support was provided by Niamh Scott of Ashfield MedComms, an Inizio company, and editorial support was provided by Laura Colbran of Ashfield MedComms, an Inizio company, and funded by Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. 

Disclosures:  Vincent Martin has received consulting fees from Eli Lilly, Tonix and Pfizer, along with speaking fees from Pfizer and AbbVie. Martin has research funding from Eli Lilly, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. and AbbVie.

Fred Cohen has received consulting fees from Pfizer, AbbVie and Eli Lilly along with honoraria from Springer Nature and MedLink Neurology.

Ying Zhang, Di Zhang and Mario Ortega are employees of Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. and Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R&D, Inc. (collectively, "Teva”).

Impact Lives Here

The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction.  Next Lives Here.

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• College of Medicine
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• Next Lives Here

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Learning more about how cancer affects stroke risk.

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UC trial tests tongue exercises to improve swallowing function after stroke

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A new trial at the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute, funded by a $660,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, will test an at-home tongue endurance exercise to improve patients’ swallowing function after a stroke.

Study finds distinct patterns of preexisting brain health characteristics in stroke patients

May 26, 2023

The University of Cincinnati's Achala Vagal presented the results of the first large-scale assessment of radiological brain health in stroke patients in a population at the European Stroke Organization Conference 2023 in Munich, Germany.

What are you looking for?

Suggested search, are mixed emotions real new research says yes.

In Pixar’s latest film, Inside Out 2 , complex feelings like envy and embarrassment join the cast of characters. Nostalgia, however, is hurried out the door to cries of “too early!” when she appears.

If animators wish to give nostalgia more consideration in a future film, new data from researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences could guide them in determining how to animate this sort of “mixed emotion.”

What’s new: In a recent study , the USC Dornsife neuroscientists found that brains display distinct neural activity when experiencing emotions such as bittersweetness.

• The advance could help solve a longstanding scientific debate: whether “mixed emotions” arise from unique activity in the brain, or if we’re just flip-flopping back and forth between positive and negative feelings.

Why it matters: Mixed emotions are a common experience, but they’ve been understudied scientifically for several reasons.

• Emotions are often thought to exist only on a spectrum from negative to positive.
• It’s easier to study one feeling at a time.

In his words: “ It’s hard to evoke these complex emotions in a realistic way inside the lab,” says Jonas Kaplan, associate professor (research) of psychology and co-author of the study, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex in April.

Key findings:

• Mixed feelings elicited unique neural activity in the amygdala and nucleus accumbens areas of the brain.
• This activity was different than the brain activity seen when a subject reported a purely positive or negative emotion.

What else? The researchers could predict when someone was going to shift emotions.

• Particular regions of the brain, like the insular cortex, displayed significant changes as subjects reported an emotional transition.

“Not only did we find brain activity that was correlated with mixed emotions, but we found that it held steady over time,” says Anthony Vaccaro , lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Neuroendocrinology of Social Ties Lab at USC Dornsife . Vaccaro recently completed his PhD in psychology at USC Dornsife. “You’re not ping-ponging between negative and positive. It’s a very unique, mixed emotion over a long period.”

How they did it : As study subjects watched a poignant animated short film, researchers monitored their brain activity using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.·      The researchers chose One Small Step by TAIKO Studios for its ability to evoke simultaneous happy and sad feelings. ·      After the first viewing, participants rewatched the video without MRI and indicated when they experienced positive, negative or mixed emotions. The researchers then compared these reports with the MRI imaging results.

Opportunity: The study lays out practical groundwork for future scientific research into this understudied phenomenon, research that Kaplan says would also be beneficial for understanding human psychology.

• “There’s a certain sophistication that’s required to sit with a mixed emotion and to allow yourself to feel positive and negative at the same time. Looking into that more, exploring the benefits of being able to accept positive and negativity at the same time within yourself, is something we think is worth study,” he says.

What’s next:   Kaplan and Vaccaro will next look at how emotional reactions fluctuate in group settings, such as watching a movie together in a cinema.

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And then there were 6 — kinds of taste, that is, brain scans reveal that lonely people process the world in unique ways, musical numbers: math and music nurture a deep and complex relationship.

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The Integration of Clinical Trials With the Practice of Medicine : Repairing a House Divided

• 1 JAMA , Chicago, Illinois
• 2 University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 3 University of California, San Francisco
• 4 David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California
• 5 Verily Life Sciences, San Francisco, California
• 6 Now with Highlander Health, Dallas, Texas
• 7 US Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC
• 8 Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
• 9 Protas, Manchester, United Kingdom
• 10 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
• Editorial Introducing the JAMA Summit Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS; Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH; Hannah Park; Roger J. Lewis, MD, PhD; Rohan Khera, MD, MS; Jennifer Zeis; Annette Flanagin, RN, MA; Gregory Curfman, MD JAMA
• Editor's Note Integrating Clinical Trials and Practice Gregory Curfman, MD JAMA
• Viewpoint Why Should the FDA Focus on Pragmatic Clinical Research? Ali B. Abbasi, MD; Lesley H. Curtis, PhD; Robert M. Califf, MD JAMA

Importance   Optimal health care delivery, both now and in the future, requires a continuous loop of knowledge generation, dissemination, and uptake on how best to provide care, not just determining what interventions work but also how best to ensure they are provided to those who need them. The randomized clinical trial (RCT) is the most rigorous instrument to determine what works in health care. However, major issues with both the clinical trials enterprise and the lack of integration of clinical trials with health care delivery compromise medicine’s ability to best serve society.

Observations   In most resource-rich countries, the clinical trials and health care delivery enterprises function as separate entities, with siloed goals, infrastructure, and incentives. Consequently, RCTs are often poorly relevant and responsive to the needs of patients and those responsible for care delivery. At the same time, health care delivery systems are often disengaged from clinical trials and fail to rapidly incorporate knowledge generated from RCTs into practice. Though longstanding, these issues are more pressing given the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, heightened awareness of the disproportionate impact of poor access to optimal care on vulnerable populations, and the unprecedented opportunity for improvement offered by the digital revolution in health care. Four major areas must be improved. First, especially in the US, greater clarity is required to ensure appropriate regulation and oversight of implementation science, quality improvement, embedded clinical trials, and learning health systems. Second, greater adoption is required of study designs that improve statistical and logistical efficiency and lower the burden on participants and clinicians, allowing trials to be smarter, safer, and faster. Third, RCTs could be considerably more responsive and efficient if they were better integrated with electronic health records. However, this advance first requires greater adoption of standards and processes designed to ensure health data are adequately reliable and accurate and capable of being transferred responsibly and efficiently across platforms and organizations. Fourth, tackling the problems described above requires alignment of stakeholders in the clinical trials and health care delivery enterprises through financial and nonfinancial incentives, which could be enabled by new legislation. Solutions exist for each of these problems, and there are examples of success for each, but there is a failure to implement at adequate scale.

Conclusions and Relevance   The gulf between current care and that which could be delivered has arguably never been wider. A key contributor is that the 2 limbs of knowledge generation and implementation—the clinical trials and health care delivery enterprises—operate as a house divided. Better integration of these 2 worlds is key to accelerated improvement in health care delivery.

• Editorial Introducing the JAMA Summit JAMA
• Editor's Note Integrating Clinical Trials and Practice JAMA

Read More About

Angus DC , Huang AJ , Lewis RJ, et al. The Integration of Clinical Trials With the Practice of Medicine : Repairing a House Divided . JAMA. Published online June 03, 2024. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.4088

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