<p>How is the undergrad neuroscience program at USC? How does it compare to that of UC's? (ex: UCLA, UCB, UCSD etc)</p>
<p>Hi Facepalm,</p>
<p>USC offers a BA and a BS in neuroscience-- with the BS being a more extensive and comprehensive major (and it covers almost all pre-med requirements). UCB does not have a neuroscience undergrad program-- there is a concentration under the MCB major, but it is nothing like USC’s two neuroscience majors. D wasn’t interested in UCLA/UCSD, so I don’t know whether they offer an undergrad major or not.</p>
<p>^You’re right about Berkeley. They offer emphasis on neurobiology which is under the umbrella major of Biology which is still very highly regarded. In fact, their neurobiology department ranks on US News’ grad school rankings. As for UCLA and UCSD, they both offer the neuroscience BS degree and are ranked higher than USC’s program. That’s not to take away from USC’s neurosci, but UCLA and UCSD’s are much more renown and regarded as all around better in the rankings.</p>
<p>I realize the rankings are for grad departments, but that is the closest possible to assessing the undergrad quality anyway as the department and research potential are made up of the faculty and grad school quality.
Source:
[Best</a> Neuroscience and Neurobiology Programs | Top Science Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/neurosciences-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/neurosciences-rankings)</p>
<p>As I stated earlier, at UCB there is a concentration under the MCB (molecular cell bio) major, not Biology. It is also NOT a neuroscience major and you would need to combine with a cog sci double major to get the same type of program you can get at USC. We also found grad rankings irrelevant when they didn’t offer an undergraduate program.</p>
<p>Neuroscience at SC is one of the majors which has received much attention from the Dornsife family. In the last fifty years there have been tremendous advancements in the field. At SC new methodologies are being developed to enhance research and study in neuroscience… It lends itself to interdisciplinary study. SC undergraduates have opportunities to participate in research projects. There is also an honors neuroscience program.</p>
<p>One of the best known professors in the field is Dr. Antonio Damasio, holder of the David Dornsife Chair in Neuorscience. He is also the Director of the Brain and Creativity Institute in the Dornsife School of LAS. Damasio helped determine the neural basis for the emotions and demonstrated that emotions play a central role in social cognition. Dr. Damasio has received many honors and awards, notably the Honda Prize. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A long list of his honors and awards are found on any search engine.</p>
<p>On the next post I will give other information about the major and faculty.</p>
<p>Research in the field at SC addresses these topics:</p>
<p>Behavioral, Systems & Cognitive Neuroscience</p>
<p>Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology</p>
<p>Development, Plasticity & Repair</p>
<p>Computational Neuroscienc & Neural Engineering</p>
<p>Aging, Neurobiology of Disease and Translational Research</p>
<p>Special note:</p>
<p>SC has an active group in visual neuroscience, including nearly 15 diffferent labs representing virtually all aspects including phototransduction, visuomotor integration and visual cognition. Aiding in these studies and others is the new Dana and David Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imagining Center which features a 3 Tesla Siemens MAGNETOM Trio scanner for neuorimaging studies of visual and cognitive function in humans.</p>
<p>As I mentioned in another post Dr. Antonio Damasio holds an endowed chair in the Dornsife School of LAS. A few of his honors were listed, but his awards are impressive:</p>
<p>Awards for Dr. Damasio…</p>
<p>Honda Prize, included a $100,000 monetary award
This was given “for his pioneering effort and remarkable contributions in the world of neuroscience.”
Elected to the Association of American Physicians
Pessoa Prize
Signoret Prize in Cognitive Neuroscience
Nonino Prize
Dr. Honoro Causa
Queen Sofia Medal
Arnold Pfeffer Prize
Golden Brain Award
Beaumont Prize given by the American Medical Association
and others…</p>
<p>Another noted professor in the department is Larry W. Swanson. Professor Swanson has a Ph.D. from Washington University at St. Louis. He came to SC from UCSD after a time at the Salk Institute. He is the Milo Don and Lucille Appleman Professor and is a professor in the Departments of Biological Sciences, Psychology and Neurology.</p>
<p>He is Director of the NIBS-Neuroscience Program and serves as the Chair of the provost’s neuroscience advisory group. Dr. Swanson is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the American Association for the History of Medicine, International Behavioral Neuroscience Society, International Society for the History of Neuroscience and is Secretary of the Society for Neuroscience.</p>
<p>Dr. Swanson has served as editor or board member of numerous editorial boards in the field. He has also received prestigious awards: Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, C.K. Herrick Award, McKnight Neuroscience Development Award, Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award NINDS and 100 most cited neuroscience researchers (Institute for Scientific Information).</p>
<p>Damn Georgia Girl, is there any way we can hire someone like you for the UCLA forum? You are really dedicated to this board. Very impressive.</p>
<p>caveat: i’m not a neuroscience major.</p>
<p>From what i remember reading about neuroscience, although berkeley and stanford (iirc) don’t have neuroscience programs, they’re still very highly regarded, so you should take that into account.</p>
<p>you should try to consider what you’d like to do after you graduate. If you want to do research, then a smaller student to faculty ratio at USC might help there so that you can do research with faculty. Do you want a stronger program with higher regarded professors and possibly better letters of rec. for grad school? i’d go to UCLA or maybe UCSD (if you want to emphasize on the biological aspects.)</p>
<p>beyphy,
In the field of neuroscience I think almost any student would be delighted to have a letter of recommendation from Drs. Damasio, Swanson, Thompson, Damasio (Mrs.) and/or others in this department. </p>
<pre><code>I think you would have to do a long search to find professors who are more highly regarded in the field than the above and work with students.
</code></pre>
<p>Another outstanding professor at SC in the field of neuroscience is Richard Thompson. He has his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and did post doctoral research at the University of Goeteborg in Sweden. Dr. Thompson came to SC from Stanford where he was Chair of the Human Biology Program and was the Bing Professor of Human Biology.</p>
<p>At SC Dr. Thompson is a Keck Professor and is Senior Scientific Advisor to the Neuroscience Program. His research interests focus on the neurobiological substratres of learning and memory. He discovered the essential role of the cerebellum in basic procedural memory and has localized the site of a memory trace.</p>
<p>Professor Thompson is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society and the Society of Experimental Psychologists.</p>
<p>He has received the Howard Crosby Warren Medal, the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, the D.G. Marquis Award in Behavioral Neuroscience and the John McGovern Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has held a Research Scientist Career Award from the National Institute of Mental Health and was a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study at Stanford.</p>
<p>In the field he is President of the Western Psychological Association and President of the Pavlovian Society. He is a past president of the American Psychological Society. In addition, he has served as Chief Editor or editor of journals in the field. He founded the Journal of Behavioral Neuroscience.</p>
<p>He has written several texts and published over 440 research papers. Dr. Thompson includes undergraduates in his laboratory as well as doctoral students and graduate students.</p>
<p>gOld3n,</p>
<pre><code>Those of us who post here frequently such as alamemom, madbean, ellebud, actingmom, jazzshreddermom and others are all unpaid volunteers.
</code></pre>
<p>
</p>
<p>you’re probably right. I don’t know enough about neuroscience, or the faculty in NS, to really comment on it.</p>
<p>Dr. Larry Swanson, Professor of Biological Sciences, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his work on the organization of neural networks that control motivated behavior.</p>