Undergraduate Studies in Neuroscience
Tulane offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate major in Neuroscience. Established in 2000, Neuroscience quickly became one of the most popular and fastest growing majors at Tulane. Over 1600 students already have graduated with the B.S. in Neuroscience from Tulane and over 150 students annually pursue the degree. The objective of Neuroscience as a field of study is to understand the role of the nervous system in regulating physiological and behavioral processes. Advances in our basic understanding of the brain have been remarkable over recent years. This knowledge is leading to improved treatments of, and even cures for many neurological diseases. The major in Neuroscience is an exciting feature of undergraduate education that provides Tulane students with the opportunity to focus on one of the most promising areas for human health in this century.
Career Areas
- Government: Research
- Industry/Business: Research, Product Management
- Healthcare: Research
- Sales: Account Management, Sales Support
- Education: Teaching, Research, Administration
Neuroscience majors are encouraged to participate in active biomedical research in the University's faculty research laboratories. These experiences merge classroom learning with hands-on experience and allow close student-faculty interactions that are not possible in the traditional classroom setting, enhancing student competitiveness for admission to graduate and medical schools. Majors in Neuroscience work hand-in-hand with Tulane neuroscientists, their graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and technical staffs on federally-funded research projects.
Tulane neuroscientists and their students are attempting to answer many critical questions such as:
- How do our brains store information as memory?
- How do the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease and Schizophrenia process information?
- How do neuronal circuits interact to control learning and adaptive behavior?
- How do neurons regulate the release of hormones involved in pregnancy, maternity, menopause, stress, and growth?
- What changes in the brain lead to drug addiction?
- How does the regulation of brain microvascular function under physiological conditions and also under pathological states such as stroke and diabetes?
- How does the brain regulate pain?
- What are the genetic and molecular pathways regulating the development of the peripheral nervous and cardiovascular systems?
- What is the neurochemistry of specific viral infections?
- How do attention, judgment, and memory biases help maintain pathological emotional responses to trauma?
- How does synaptic transmission occur at auditory synapses?
- How do our brains process visual and auditory information?
- How do the nervous and immune systems converge to impact brain function, mental health, and neurological disease?
- What are the mechanisms controlling the development and function of neural circuits underlying high cognitive skills such as sensation, learning, and memory?
- What are the implications of cardiovascular health on the nervous system?
