Neuroscience, BS

Neuroscience majors must complete a minimum of 59 credits, detailed as follows:

Required Courses

• NROSCI 1000 - INTRO TO NEUROSCIENCE or
• NROSCI 1003 - UHC INTRO TO NEUROSCIENCE
• NROSCI 1011 - FUNCTIONAL NEUROANATOMY or
• NROSCI 1013 - FUNCTIONAL NEUROANATOMY
• NROSCI 1012 - NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
• NROSCI 1017 - SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION

One of the following writing courses

• NROSCI 1800 - NEUROSCIENCE/WRITING PRACTCM 1
• NROSCI 1801 - NEUROSCIENCE/WRITING PRACTCM 2
• NROSCI 1962 - THESIS RESEARCH/WRITING PRAC

Two advanced electives to be chosen from:

• NROSCI 1014 - SPEAKING OF SCIENCE
• NROSCI 1026 - CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
• NROSCI 1030 - PSYCHTRC DISORDERS & BRN FUNCN
• NROSCI 1032 - FNCTNL ORGZTN HUMN NERVOS SYS
• NROSCI 1033 - NEURAL BASIS OF VISION
• NROSCI 1034 - NEURAL BASIS OF COGNITION
• NROSCI 1036 - NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING
• NROSCI 1040 - BIO BASES OF LEARNING & MEMORY
• NROSCI 1041 - DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE
• NROSCI 1042 - NEUROCHEMICAL BASIS BEHAVIOR
• NROSCI 1043 - NEURAL PLASTICITY
• NROSCI 1140 - BIO BASIS LEARNING MEMORY-UHC

Capstone Requirement

Choose one of the following courses

• NROSCI 1027 - NEUROSCIENCE PROSEMINAR
• NROSCI 1901 - INDEPENDENT STUDY

Note:

Course descriptions and current syllabi can be found by clicking on the Teaching Faculty link on the right of the Neuroscience Undergraduate home page at www.neuroscience.pitt.edu/programs/undergraduate

Co-requisite Courses

It is recommended that students complete introductory biology, chemistry, and physics courses during freshman and sophomore years. Premed students should also take PHYS 0212 - INTRO TO LABORATORY PHYSICS or PHYS 0219 - BASIC LAB PHYS SCIENCE & ENGRG and a statistics course to meet medical school requirements.

• BIOSC 0150 - FOUNDATIONS OF BIOLOGY 1 *
• BIOSC 0050 - FOUNDATIONS OF BIOLOGY LAB 1
• BIOSC 0160 - FOUNDATIONS OF BIOLOGY 2 *
• BIOSC 0060 - FOUNDATIONS OF BIOLOGY LAB 2
• BIOSC 1000 - BIOCHEMISTRY
• BIOSC 1250 - HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY or
• NROSCI 1250 - HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY
• CHEM 0110 - GENERAL CHEMISTRY 1 *
• CHEM 0120 - GENERAL CHEMISTRY 2 *
• CHEM 0310 - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 1
• CHEM 0320 - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 2
• CHEM 0345 - ORGANIC LABORATORY
• MATH 0220 - ANALYTC GEOMETRY & CALCULUS 1
• PHYS 0110 - INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS 1
• PHYS 0111 - INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS 2
• * Students must complete these courses with a letter grade of C or better to declare the major.

Grade requirements for the major are as follows:

• Students majoring in neuroscience must take all required courses for a letter grade.
• NROSCI 1000 - INTRO TO NEUROSCIENCE or NROSCI 1003 - UHC INTRO TO NEUROSCIENCE must be passed with a B- or better. Grades in the remaining core courses and two advanced electives are averaged. All of these courses must be passed, and the average GPA must be 2.00 or better.
• In the co-requisites, a passing grade below C may be accepted only if it is balanced with higher grades, so that the total GPA in co-requisite courses is 2.0 or better. This requirement applies collectively to corequisite courses taught in the Department of Neuroscience (e.g., NROSCI 1070 - HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY-UHC ) and those taught in other departments.
• Majors must have a grade of B- in NROSCI 1000 - INTRO TO NEUROSCIENCE or NROSCI 1003 - UHC INTRO TO NEUROSCIENCE as a prerequisite to taking any other departmental core or advanced elective courses.
• The co-requisite courses in biology and chemistry satisfy the related area requirement for this major.

Department Honors and Undergraduate Research

• To qualify for departmental honors, students need to maintain a minimum overall GPA of 3.25 as well as a GPA of 3.25 in the neuroscience major. In addition, students must complete a substantial amount of experimental neuroscience research on an approved research project and give a public presentation of the work. The full faculty of the department approves departmental honors after consideration of all eligible students.
• The Department of Neuroscience encourages interested undergraduate majors to gain research experience within an active neuroscience laboratory. The department is a world-class research department committed to high quality research and sharing the excitement of scientific exploration with trainees. Majors are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to do meaningful neuroscience research while still undergraduates. It is not unusual for majors to report their research at scientific meetings and to be published. While research experience itself has strong benefits, it is also useful for interacting more closely with professors and enhancing preparation for graduate or medical school. Most undergraduates who enroll in research for credit are interested in completing an independent project that results in an undergraduate thesis.