My Major

My major is Pre-Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, but I plan on applying for the full major in the future. I will use this post to go into detail on what being in this major means for it's students, for their futures, examples of who they can become and what this major means personally to me.

Veach, Zachary. "Brain Vocab Sketch" 3/2/2009 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

1.) What do students in your program learn how to do?

Students learn the in-and-outs of the brain and it's effect on various aspects of the body. For example, NSCS students learn everything from the general organization of the brain to the molecular and cellular mechanisms. However, that was only the Neuroscience side of this major. Students also learn about Cognitive Science, such as the history behind the brain and behavior through evolution, or the principles of how the brain's circuitry when dealing with attention, language, emotion and consciousness. Both sides come together to teach students about the commons diseases and disorders of the nervous system. 

2.) What do people who get degrees in this field usually go on to do for work? 

Most students go on to a career in the medical field, such as Neuroscientists, Psychiatrists, Nurses, and anything dealing with health. However, they can also go into a job in technology, such as robotics development, information processing or even developing artificial intelligence. 

3.) What drew you to this field?

Ever since I was little, I have always been fascinated with what goes on behind humans' thought in their subconscious. Why do we react to certain things the way we do? What gives us the ability to be as advanced as we are now, and what have we retained from our ancestors? Once I knew that I wanted to go to medical school, I knew that this major would be the perfect base for me and my interests.

4.) Who are the leaders/most exciting people involved in your field right now? Why?

Recently, Dr. Miguel Nicolelis has made a huge impact in the field by allowing a quadriplegic to participate in the 2014 World Cup kickoff. However, he has also made progress in robotics as he enabled a monkey to use a robotic arm simply by using her brain activity. He also co-founded the Safra International Institute for Neuroscience of Natal in Brazil. 

Also, Dr. Fred Gage was the scientist who discovered that the adult brain still produces new nerve cells. Now, he is continuing his research into learning how to replace the brain tissue damaged by brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's or stroke. He is currently conducting his research at the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute. 

Both are currently considered the top two most influential modern neuroscientists. 

5.) What are the leading academic/scholarly journals in your field? Where are they published? 

The current top journal would be Nature Reviews Neuroscience, which is published in the United Kingdom and focuses on all things about modern neuroscience. 

Neuron is also one of the top journals in this field, and focuses on a variety of things within the neuroscience community. It is published within the United States. 

Finally, Biology of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, published in the United Kingdom, is centered more around the advances in understanding mood and anxiety disorders. 

Since this major is relatively new at the University of Arizona, I hope that this post has shed some light on this field of study and what it means to both it's students and the world. 

Reflection:
I really enjoyed reading about my classmates' interests and majors. I loved reading Cynthia's post as she has the same major as I do. I was able to compare what drew us into this field I also enjoyed reading about what others in my major plan to do in the future. Even though we want to study separate things in the medical field, NSCS is able to help us both achieve our goals. On the other hand, I also enjoyed reading Rose's post as it taught me about a completely new study that I wasn't aware of. It was interesting to see her interests compared to mine, even though they look very different, with modern technology eventually they can intertwine to help each other.