7/26/2015

Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine Buff Brains can now major in neuroscience

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ByClintTalbott

Knowitsaplacebo?Themedicine
couldstillwork

Formanyyears,facultymembersintheUniversityofColoradosDepartmentofPsychologyand
Neuroscienceandotherdepartmentshavebeenaskingquestionsabouthowthebrainworks.Now,
undergraduatesattheUniversityofColoradowillhavetheopportunitytoparticipatemoreinthis
quest.
Forthefirsttimethisfall,CUstudentsdeclaredamajorinneurosciencethatwillbehousedinthe
DepartmentofPsychologyandNeuroscience.Nextspring,about40studentsareexpectedto
graduatefromtheprogram.
Scientistswhostudyhowthebrainworksarecalledneuroscientistsatermthatemerged50years
agotorecognizethatthestudyofthenervoussystemanditsrelationshiptothemindandbehavior
encompassesmanyfieldsofscience,includingmolecularbiology,biophysics,geneticsand
psychology.
Addingamajorinneurosciencemightseemanaturaldevelopmentforadepartmentwhosename
includesthetermneuroscience,butinatimeoftightbudgets,supplementingthecurriculumwas
nosmallfeat.
Thisnewmajorwascreatedbydrawingheavilyuponexistingcourses,theexpertiseofthefaculty
andanunexpectedformofassistance:socialmedia.
Inthespring,thedepartmentlaunchedanonline
surveytogaugestudentseagernesstodeclare
neuroscienceastheirchosenmajor.Werealized
therewasanexplosionofinterestoutthere,says
DonCooper,associateprofessorofpsychology
andneuroscienceandcodirectorofthe
neuroscienceundergraduateprogram.
About300studentssaidtheywantedtoenrollina
neurosciencemajor.Butsomehadbasic
questions,suchas:Whatisneuroscience?and
Howdoesitdifferfrompsychology?
Thosearegoodqueries.AsCoopernotes,the
linedelineatingpsychologyandneuroscienceis
anevolvingquestion.
Thefacultyknewstudentshadalongstanding
interestinneuroscience,notesJerryRudy,
collegeprofessorofdistinctionofpsychologyand
neuroscience.Infact,theuniversityhasoffered
anundergraduatecertificateinneurosciencefora
numberofyears.Buttheextentoftheinterestin
afullblownmajorwassurprising.
Thefirstcourseinneuroscienceenrolled46
students.Manyofthemwonderedwhichcourses
wouldcounttowardayettobeimplemented
neurosciencemajor.

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DonCooper,associateprofessorofpsychology
andneuroscienceandcodirectorofthe
neuroscienceundergraduateprogram

Academicadvisersdidntknowhowtoanswerthosequestions,Coopersays.Somepsychology
majorsneededmorecourseworkinareassuchasbiology,chemistryandmath.Atthesametime,
studentsmajoringinmolecularbiologyandintegrativephysiologytendedtobebetterpreparedfor
thecourseofstudyrequiredinneuroscience.
StudentsbeganemailingCooperwithquestions,sohesetupaFacebookpagetocongealthe
collectivewisdomofparticipants.HecalledtheFacebookpageCUNeuroscience,anditopened
thedoortorealtimediscussionswithinalargeanddisparategroup.
Cooperenvisionedsocialnetworkingasawayforpeopletogetanswerstocommonquestions
withouthavingtogothroughtheadvisingprocess.Whenthosequestionswereanswered,Icould
refineitandreferbacktoit.
Withinamonth,thepagesfanbaseballoonedto178.
Rudy,aformerchairofthedepartment,notesthatthesocialmediastrategyreducesoreliminates
someoftheworkloadonacademicadvisers.Manyquestionsstudentshavearegenericandcan
beansweredwithoutfacetofacecontact.Someareevenbetteransweredbytheirpeers,he
observes.
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7/26/2015

Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine Buff Brains can now major in neuroscience

Wewerefacedwiththisproblemofbudgetcuts,
andyetwewantedtoexpand.Wehadtogowith
themodelthatitwouldberevenueneutral,
Coopersays.
Thenucleusoftheprogramisatwocourse
sequence,IntrotoNeuroscience1and2.There
are2,300psychologymajorsand46slotsinthe
IntrotoNeurosciencecourse,approximatelythe
numberofexpectedgraduatesnextspring.

JerryRudy,collegeprofessorofdistinctionof
psychologyandneuroscience

Thismilestonehasbeenawhileincoming,butthe
seedsweresownin1996whenthedepartment
underwentaregularprogramreview.AsRudy
notes,theresultwasastrategicplanthat
recognizedthatneurosciencewasasignificant
componentofthemissionoftheNational
InstitutesofHealth,whichfundsmuchofthe
departmentsresearch.

Sothedepartmentsstrategichiringplanwas
designedtohiremorefacultywhoseresearchincludedastrongneurosciencecomponent.
Neurosciencewasalreadypartofthedepartmentsfocus,but,asRudyrecalls,Weneededto
embraceit.
Ofthe40facultymembersnowinthedepartment,abouthalfarestudyingthenexusofbehavior
andthebrain.
Untilquiterecentlywedidnthaveenoughfacultytosupportadepartmentbasedneuroscience
undergraduatemajor,Rudynotes.Recentfacultyhiresgavethedepartmentthehumancapitalto
launchthemajorinneuroscience.
OneofthosenewfacultymemberswasRyanBachtell,assistantprofessorofpsychologyand
neuroscience.AnotherwasCooper,whoaimsinhisteachingtoemploywhatneuroscientific
researchhasrevealedaboutattentionandlearningattheneuronallevel.Cooperintendstodesign
aneuropedagogicalapproachtopromotelearninginandoutoftheclassroom.
Inaddition,thedepartment,inconjunctionwiththeInstituteforCognitiveScience,alsohirednew
facultymemberTorWager,whohasastrongneurosciencecomponenttohisresearch.
AsRudynotesoftheundergraduateneuroscienceprogram,Cooperpusheditandpusheditand
madeitwork.BothCooperandRudyaddthattheyveenjoyedenthusiasticsupportfromthe
departmentscurrentchair,LewisO.Harvey,andthedean,ToddGleeson.
Priortolaunchingthemajorinneuroscience,othermembersoftheDepartmentofPsychologyand
NeuroscienceplayedacriticalroleindevelopinganinterdisciplinaryPh.D.programinneuroscience
thatenrollsstudentsfrommanycognatedisciplines.
Thisverysuccessfulgraduatedegreewascreatedundertheleadershipandcommitmentof
ProfessorsLindaR.WatkinsandStevenF.Maier,whoarebothUniversityDistinguished
Professors.ThedegreeisadministeredthroughtheCenterforNeurosciencethatMaierand
Watkinscreatedandcodirect.
Rudynotesthatanincreasingnumberofuniversitiesnowofferanundergraduatemajorin
neuroscience.AtCU,aselsewhere,itcanserveasapremedicalschooltrack.Anditspopularityis
evident.
ClementineSnow,aneurosciencemajor,describesherfieldofstudyasabrandnewbranchof
sciencetobediscoveredbymindscravingknowledge.Sofar,ImlovingallofthenewthingsIm
learninginmyintroclassandlovethefactthatthoseteachingitaregenuinelyinterested,shesays.
Thefactthatpartsofthecourseareonline,evenonFacebook,makesitveryaccessibleand
providesaneaseofusetothoseofusalreadyusedtothesystem.
FellowneurosciencemajorKyleSorensenconcurs,addingthatneuroscienceispopularbecauseit
allowsstudentstoexplorethehorizonsofknowledgeabouttheuniverseandwithinourcranium.
Suchinterestisevidentinsocietyaswell.Ifyoureadmagazinesandnewspapersandlookatwhat
scienceismosttalkedabout,mostofithastodowiththebrain,Rudysays.
Further,henotes,theSocietyforNeurosciencehasabout40,000members.
CUsneuroscienceprogramjustreceivedaGoogleAdWordsgrantfor$10,000permonth
indefinitelyinadvertising.Coopersaysthedepartmenthopestheexposurewillboostenrollment
intoCUandintotheneurosciencemajor,boostContinuingEducationenrollmentfordistance
learningandassistfundraisingeffortsforcoursedevelopment,facultyteachingawardsandstudent
scholarship.
OurmainchallengeiscontainingtheinterestatCU,Coopersays.Wecouldhave400majors.
Iassumewewill,Rudyadds.
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7/26/2015

Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine Buff Brains can now major in neuroscience

Formoreinformationontheundergraduatemajorinneuroscience,see
http://psych.colorado.edu/~nrsc/,checkoutCUNeuroscienceonFacebookat
http://www.facebook.com/pages/BoulderCO/CUNeuroscience/103780552990751?ref=ts,or
followtheprogramonTwitterathttp://twitter.com/CU_Neuroscience.Studentsmajoringin
neuroscience,whonicknamedthemselvesBuffBrains,alsohaveaFacebookpageunderthe
samemoniker:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001225734777&ref=ts.
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