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Area Faculty
Thomas Brown
Karyn M. Frick
Laurie Santos
Glenn E. Schafe
Allan R. Wagner
Area Colloquia
Current Work in Behavioral Neuroscience
General Information
A course of study in Behavioral Neuroscience emphasizes an
understanding of the basic mechanisms of behavior through the knowledge
of their physiological substrates, and an appreciation of their varying
or similar forms in different organisms. A major concentration of
faculty interest is in the psychobiology of learning and memory.
Approaches to this general question include abstract theoretical models
(e.g., in animal learning), integrative physiological investigation
(e.g., in the role of specific neural structures, such as the
cerebellum and brain stem nuclei, in learning), cellular and
biophysical analyses in simple systems (e.g., in invertebrate animals
and hippocampal slice), and computational approaches (e.g., utilizing
models of adaptive neural networks). Other current foci of faculty
interest are in the neural bases of cognition, motivational processes,
and psychopharmacology.
Training in Behavioral Neuroscience is generally integrated with study
in related areas within the Psychology Department and enriched by
affiliation with other Yale departments and associated research
centers. For example, students with a special interest in the learning
process may avail themselves of the extensive course offerings in human
memory and information processing in the Psychology Department.
Students may also pursue relevant courses and research experience with
cooperating faculty in the Yale Neuroscience Program. This program
represents a cooperative effort among the following academic units:
Anesthesiology, Biology, Cell Biology, Cellular and Molecular
Physiology, Computer Science, Genetics, Neurobiology,
Neuroendocrinology, Neurology, Neuropathology, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics
and Gynecology, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Pediatrics and
Respiratory Medicine, Pharmacology, Psychiatry, Psychology, and
Surgery. The Neuroscience Program admits its own Ph.D. ca! ndidates,
but graduate students for a Psychology Ph.D. are able to participate in
any of the course offerings available in the Neuroscience Program.
Additional course or research opportunities are available from the John
B. Pierce Foundation, the West Haven VA Medical Center, and the
Department of Psychiatry. All Behavioral Neuroscience faculty and
graduate students, occasionally joined by visiting scholars, meet
weekly to discuss current and ongoing research.
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