Advice on a Major?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Wisconsin
1

<p>Lately I've been really interested in a topic known as "biopsychology" (aka psychobiology, behavioral psychology, or physiological psychology). Biopsychology studies the links between the human body and the brain. It involves both genetics and psychology, both of which I am really interested in.
HOWEVER. Biopsychology apparently is not a very popular major.. There are few schools that offer it, and the ones that do are schools I have never heard of and don't want to look in to, the reason being that I'm looking at bigger schools (U of I- Urbana Champaign, UW Madison, Notre Dame, etc.)</p>

<p>My question is: Is there a different major that equates to a biopsychology major that more schools would offer? Or is there something I can do such as major in biology/genetics/psychology and minor in one of the others?
Please help, I don't know how to research this by myself! (:</p>

2

<p>UW-Madison does not have minors. But you can double or even triple major. I have even heard that you can create your own major.</p>

<p>I see that wikipedia indicates that psychobiology is the same as or similar to behavioral neuroscience.</p>

<p>UW-Madison has a Department of Neuroscience:
[Department</a> of Neuroscience - University of Wisconsin - Madison](<a href=“http://neuro.wisc.edu/]Department”>http://neuro.wisc.edu/)</p>

<p>Take some time to explore the above website. I see that there is a major called Neurobiology as well.</p>

<p>Here are the undergrad courses listed on the neuro.wisc.edu website: [url=&lt;a href=“http://neuro.wisc.edu/courses.asp]Courses”&gt;Courses – Department of Neuroscience – UW–Madison]Courses</a> - Department of Neuroscience - University of Wisconsin - Madison<a href=“scroll%20down%20in%20this%20link%20for%20the%20undergrad%20course%20descriptions;%20also%20cut/pasted%20below”>/url</a>.</p>

<p>Undergraduate Courses:</p>

<p>Biology 151: Introductory Biology Credits: 5
First undergraduate course in introductory biology consisting of animal physiology, plant physiology, and ecology. Lecture, discussion, lab.
Instructors: Grinblat and others
Semester offered: Fall and Spring</p>

<p>Biology 152: Introductory Biology Credits: 5
Second undergraduate course in introductory biology consisting of animal physiology, plant physiology, and ecology. Lecture, discussion, lab.
Instructors: Epstein, Krueger, Hotchkiss and others
Semester offered: Fall and Spring</p>

<p>Biocore 303: Cell Biology Credits: 3
Multi-unit course for undergraduate biology majors consisting of: 1) Cell structure, bioenergetics and the flow of energy, 2) Basic genetics and the flow of information and 3) Cell signaling, movement and the flow of intracellular messengers.
Instructors: Dent, Laughon, Forest, and others
Semester offered: Spring</p>

<p>Anatomy 328: Human Anatomy Credits: 3
Undergraduate course for pre-nursing, pre-PA and several other programs covering the structure of the human body.
Instructors: Bersu, Krabbenhoft, Van Lieshout
Semester offered: Fall</p>

<p>Anatomy 329: Human Anatomy Credits: 2
Laboratory course on the structure of the human body for kinesiology students.
Instructors: Bersu, Krabbenhoft, Van Lieshout
Semester offered: Fall</p>

<p>Physiology 335: Credits: 5
This course covers the major systems of the human body and supports many training programs including: Nursing, Pharmacy, Biology, Kinesiology, Biomedical Engineering, Dietetics, Biochemistry, Physician Assistant, and Zoology. .
Instructors: Strang, Lokuta, Altschafl
Faculty lecturers: Ziskind-Conhaim, Chapman, Chanda, X. Huang, Basso, Jones
Semester offered: Fall, Spring, Summer</p>

<p>Physiology 435: Fundamentals of Human Physiology Credits: 4
An advanced version of Physiology 335 intended for upperclass Biology majors.
Instructors: Oertel, Lokuta, Altschafl
Semester offered: Spring</p>

<p>Anatomy 429: Human Anatomy Lab for Physician Assistants Credits: 5
Lecture and lab course with prosected specimens and supervised dissection.
Instructors: Krabbenhoft, Harting, Van Lieshout
Semester offered: Summer</p>

<p>Physiology 524: Neurobiology II: An Introduction to Brain and Behavior Credits: 3
An introduction to the human nervous system covering neuroanatomy of the brain, sensory and motor systems, higher order cognitive processing, reward, aversion, learning and memory. Required course for undergraduate students in the neurobiology option.
Instructors: Yin, Populin
Semester offered: Spring</p>

3

<p>You need to do the homework. Madison85 went way beyond the expected for you. Researching takes time and can be tedious. The more college websites you research the easier it will be to understand college majors. </p>

<p>There is a learning curve to researching this or anything. In the process of researching you will learn a lot more about the specific major and related fields. You may discover better options. Some majors are trendy. Consider the overall college experience- academic and otherwise. Once you enter college you may change your mind about your major and don’t want to be at a school only for a narrow major. There is a reason most schools may not offer a specific major- the same knowledge base may be found with other majors.</p>

<p>Don’t worry about knowing everything about majors before you start college. Neurosciences are the up and coming thing and still evolving as a field. Figure out what you intend to do with the major you are looking for. It is one thing to find a field fascinating and another to find a practical long term use for it. The mind/body connection is fascinating for many of us- where would you fit in? Often different undergrad majors lead to the same graduate studies. Ask yourself what your final/long term goal is. And remember that no matter what you major in there are going to be course requirements you dislike.</p>

4

<p>The UW psch dept has an active group working in biopsych and it is even a full concentration area for the PhD program. See their website.</p>