Neuroscience Concentration

About the Program Student working with professor on an experiment

Associate Professor David Nichols, Coordinator

A concentration in neuroscience will offer students an opportunity to learn about theory and research on the brain and nervous system from a number of perspectives. Students will come to understand how developments in biology, psychology, chemistry and related fields alter knowledge and research techniques in the other fields.

  • The Psychology Department houses the concentration, but it is designed to be compatible with majors in biology, chemistry and health and human performance because neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field.
  • Students from any major may graduate with a concentration in Neuroscience by successfully completing at least six units from the specified courses below and earning a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0.
  • In accordance with the general rules applicable to all concentrations, at least three courses in the concentration must be completed at Roanoke College.

Requirements

Required Courses (4): 

All students must complete the following four courses.

  • NEUR/PSYC 330 Principles of Neuroscience
  • NEUR/PSYC 430 Research Seminar: Neuroscience OR NEUR 405, 406, or 407 Independent Study in Neuroscience
  • An introductory BIOL course:
    • BIOL 190 Exploring Unity in Biology
    • BIOL 106 Human Biology (HHP majors only)
  • An introductory CHEM or PHYS course:
    • CHEM 111 General Chemistry: Foundations I
    • CHEM 117 General Chemistry: Advanced Principles and Applications I
    • PHYS 102 Introductory Physics for Life Sciences
    • PHYS 103 Fundamental Physics I
    • PHYS 201 Newtonian Mechanics

Electives (2):

Students must also take two electives from the list below.

  • NEUR/PSYC 335 Neuropsychology
  • NEUR 339 Topics in Neuroscience
  • PSYC 332 Drugs and Behavior
  • PSYC 336 Sensation and Perception
  • BIOL 210 Cell Biology
  • BIOL 260 Human Anatomy and Physiology II
  • BIOL 305 Principles of Physiology
  • BIOL 420 Developmental Biology
  • CHEM 340 Pharmaceutical Chemistry
  • CHEM 341 Biochemistry I
  • HHP 317 Neuromechanics (orig. HHP 306 Motor Behavior)
  • MATH 332 Applied Differential Equations
  • PHYS 410 Biophysics

 chart of units that must be completed
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