Neuroscience Major and Minor

Siddharth Ramakrishnan, Neuroscience Program, Department of Biology, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA

sramakrishnan@pugetsound.edu

Introduction

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• Neuroscience traditionally taught in combination with Biology and Psychology departments
• Applications of neuroscience are now widespread, with tools being employed from media studies to data science to economics
• Current exposure to neuroscience for these disparate majors is only through non-majors courses
• So how can we better integrate and reflect the diversity of Neuroscience knowledge with the different disciplines?

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Structure of Minor

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• Team taught foundations course with lab
• Senior seminar in neuroscience which is heavy with topics in neuroethics
• Methods in Neuroscience and Special topics electives
• 3 electives outside (with 2 outside home major)
• Research/Internship requirement ~120 hours
• Electives such as Anatomy, Neuromuscular Adaptation, Sensation and Perception, Hormones, Sex and Self, Animal Minds, Philosophy of the Mind etc.

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Contact: KJ

kaijakjjones@

pugetsound.edu

Some Concentration Specific Electives

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NeuroPhilosophy: Required – Philosophy of Mind; Philosophy of Cognitive Science; Other electives: PHIL 105: Neuroethics and Human Enhancement; PHIL 250: Moral Philosophy; PHIL 286: Ethics, Data, and Artificial Intelligence; PHIL 333: Philosophy of Emotions; PHIL 336: Philosophy of Language; PHIL 350: Moral Psychology and Metaethics

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Neuroeconomics: Required – Introduction to Behavior and Choice; Other Electives: ECON 291 Behavioral Economics; ECON 380 Game Theory in Economics; ECON 365 Economics and Philosophy; ECON 341 Economics of Online Dating; CONN 481 Gamblers, Liars, and Cheats

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NeuroArts: Required: Theatrical Experience/Visual Concepts; Other electives: Visual Concepts through drawing and painting; THTR 300 The Actor and the Craft of Characterization; THTR 217: Scene Design; THTR 313 Directing; THTR 215 Fundamentals of Acting; ARTS 251 Painting

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NeuroSpirituality: Required: Yoga, Psychedelics and Mind Science; Other electives: REL 301 Consciousness and the Bourgeoisie ; REL 350 Christian Mysticism ; REL 300 Japanimals; REL 325 New Religious Movements; REL 332 Buddhism; REL 336 Tantra and Alchemy; REL 340 Imagining Religion; REL 342 Sufism; REL 344 God in the Anthropocene; REL 450 Technology, Enchantment, and Violence; REL 460 Religious Technologies

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NeuroBioethics: Required: Intro to Bioethics; Other Electives: BIOE 255 Pandemic Ethics, Law, and Health Inequities; BIOE/REL 272 Public Health Ethics; REL 298 Reproductive Ethics; PHIL 105 Neuroethics and Human Enhancement; PHIL 230 Philosophy of Mind

Cognition Beyond the Brain

Embedded Cognition

Embodied Cognition

… and their connections�to oppressive systems

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Imagination

in Cognitive Architecture

and Memory

Normativity of

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Experimental Philosophy

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Aesthetic Cognition

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Sam Liao� Philosophy

Artificial Intelligence

Rationality

Value Alignment

Human Enhancement

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The Mind-Body Problem

Physicalism

Consciousness

Emergence

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Bayesian Models of Cognition

Predictive Processing

Perception & Hallucination

Causal Learning & Reasoning

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Justin Tiehen� Philosophy

Neuroeconomics

NEURO ARTS

Theatre and Cognitive Science is a subfield in Theatre Studies.

There’s a lot of research about acting, emotion, and the brain. The Department of Theatre Arts is excited to be part of Neuroscience conversations!

Course Offerings

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THTR 200: The Theatrical Experience

considers perception and aesthetics from artistic and scientific frames

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THTR 313: Directing

engages with knowledge about mirror neurons as part of developing students’ craft as directors and storytellers

Also come work on shows with us! Backstage or onstage!

Theater

Elise Richman

Arts/Art History

erichman@pugetsound.edu

Suzanne Holland

Bioethics

sholland@pugetsound.edu

Hajung Lee

hjlee@pugetsound.edu

Gary McCall�Exercise Science Department

• How does increased/decreased neuromuscular activity affect mito- and myokine function, and/or influence skeletal muscle plasticity in humans and rodents?
• gmccall@ups.edu

Jung Kim, Dept of Exercise Science

Control

CTX

DAPI

Laminin

Pax7

Merge

Cellular and molecular factors that regulate

skeletal muscle adaptation in response to

Increased/decreased activity and injury

Sue Hannaford - Biology

My lab looks at how life experiences, aging, flight and pesticides affect learning, memory and brain structure in bees.

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shannaford@pugetsound.edu

Siddharth Ramakrishnan�Associate Professor Biology�Snail Pattern Generators, �Hormones and Behavior�Brain Development

Adam Smith - Computer Science

Research Interests:

• Bioinformatics
• Time series analysis
• Deep neural networks
• Computer science pedagogy

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Psychology

Student Research

• “Oxytocin’s influence in canine social behavior”
• “Gender identity, hormones, and mental health”
• “Antibiotics and songbird parenting behavior”
• “Music and color as cognitive devices in film-making”

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Melvin Rouse, Jr., PhD�Department of Psychology

Using songbirds as a model system, I study how hormones function in the brain to both organize and activate neural networks responsible for social/ sexual behavior and learning.

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Email: mrouse@pugetsound.edu

Phone: (253) 879-3761

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Exogenous testosterone (T) alters adult female canary brain and behavior such that it becomes more male-like

Brain of a T-treated female Canary