Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with neuroscience

How to choose a grad school?

1024x768 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:52:33 -0800

How to choose a grad school? After a couple years of really blah experiences in the corporate world have convinced me it's not for me, I'm ready to go back to school.

My background and experience is primarily in computer science (as is my bachelors), but I've always had a dream of studying cognitive neuroscience to better understand how consciousness arises from the human mind.

I'm primarily interested in schools in the chicago area. Thing is, there are many different neuroscience programs in the area universities and I'm at a loss of how to narrow my selection. My ultimate goal is to study and research the brain/mind, which I'm assuming will involve getting a PhD in neuroscience or a related discipline.

How does one go about settling on a school/program?

Give a Cog Psych grad student a direction in life!

katers890 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:32:06 -0800

Nearing the end of grad school (one hopes) and am trying to figure out what I can actually DO with this degree. Need interesting job suggestions outside of academia for Cognitive Psychology/Neuroscience PhD. My goal is to graduate this May with a PhD in Cognitive Psychology with a Neuroscience bent. My current research uses behavioral and fMRI techniques to look at visual short term memory and visual attention capacity limits (ie. how many things can you remember/pay attention to at once), thus I know a bunch about human attention and short-term memory, a decent amount about human vision, and have a general knowledge of a variety of cognitive disciplines. I know that I can go on and teach college or get a postdoc position in research with my PhD, but am interested in what else might be out there in industry and what not for someone with my skills. Where would my education be useful?

Should I do neuroscience or psychology?

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:30:23 -0800

I want to research somatic disorders (specifically factitious disorder) or, at the very least, work as a psychologist within a medical context, what undergraduate major should I get? I am choosing between a neuroscience major and a regular psychology major. Unfortunately, the neuroscience major doesn't leave enough time for me to take all of the clinical courses that I want to take. However, I feel that it would prepare me much more to research and practice at the confluence of medicine and psychology.

To complicate matters, I have never taken any biological sciences or chemistry at a college level and it has been 7 years since I took them in high school. I don't want to do so poorly that I get kicked out of the major or hurt my chances of going to grad school in clinical psych.

This question is anonymous because my controlling parents follow me on mefi and they don't need to know I am considering graduate school.

PhD Pi or Blueberry Pie?

dejah420 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:02:29 -0800

Get a PhD by 50, or go to pastry school? I'm having a midlife crisis and am considering returning to school instead of launching another business. (Launching another business is already in the planning stages, but no hard commitments have been made.) I've been accepted to a graduate program for neuroscience that will let me do masters work and doctorate work at the same time. On the other hand...culinary school is calling to me...daring me to become a pastry chef. On the one hand; a PhD in neural networks with a bioethics focus would be intellectually challenging and a chance to work with some of the most brilliant people in the field. But...I'm returning to school after almost 20 years, and am old enough to be the mother of most of the other people in the program. Optimistically, I could finish/defend my dissertation a little before my 50th birthday. (6 years from now.) I don't know if that will make me way too old to ever get a position where I could be a researcher...but I suspect it would, since I'd be competing with super-geniuses who are 20+ years younger. And I'd have a limited amount of time in which to show an ROI on the money the program will cost.

On the other hand...bread! pie! cakes! tarts! chocolate! I love baking. I am really at my happiest in a kitchen. That said; I don't know that I would love baking in a commercial setting, as I've never tried it.

I could finish culinary school in about 18 months, since I don't need to take any of the actual academic courses, but I have no real idea what one does once one graduates with a pastry chef degree. (Although the idea of owing my own cake shop/bakery holds some appeal to me...I think I'd be just as happy showing up each day to bake and decorate for someone else.) Also a consideration, the entire culinary track would cost about what one semester of the PhD track would cost.

Am I being realistic when I think that 50ish might be too old to enter a competitive research field like neuroscience?

Is anyone a pastry chef that wants to talk about their experiences?

Neurologically, what is the difference between being stressed and excited?

lunchbox — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:23:46 -0800

Neurologically, what is the difference between being stressed and excited? Because stress/anxiety and excitement/thrill feel so different, I would expect them to be physiologically very different. Yet from the reading I've done, they appear to involve very similar neurotransmitters and body systems (HPA axis activation, adrenaline release, etc). What are the specific physiological differences between the two?

What do we know about gregariousness in human behavior?

bru — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:17:45 -0800

What do we know about gregariousness in human behavior? My Google-fu is failing me: I thought that I would find tons of studies about the role (or effect, or influence) of "gregariousness" in human social behavior and I find almost nothing. Sheep, mice, bonobos, yes. Human, no. (I also searched with sociology, psychology, anthropology, neuroscience, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins.) What am I missing?

Is the science in "The Answer" brilliant or rubbish?

monster max — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:25:43 -0800

The book "The Answer" by John Assaraf and Murray Smith has a lot of neuroscience in it... but is it brilliant or rubbish? A friend recommended me the book "The Answer" by John Assaraf and Murray Smith and I've started reading it... but ... The first few chapters present themselves as science but I can't work out whether it's real and good science and therefore amazing, or whether it's pseudo-science (like all the laughable TV ads for shampoo and skin creams) and utter rubbish.

There's a fair amount of hyperbole but I can read past that. And it's got some very interesting things to say about power of positive thinking and so on, but how seriously should I be taking it?

Has anyone out there read it? Anyone have an opinion that they can back up with some sort of evidence?

Thanks mefites!

It's what's inside that counts.

elektrotechnicus — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:53:29 -0800

I just had an MRI and MRA in response to these issues, and the radiologist's report should be relayed to me in a day or two. I've already had one normal CT scan. I received a copy of all the images from this scan - should I look at them? On the one hand, I have no medical training and if I'm not sure what if anything I could glean from looking. On the other hand, there is a ton of reference material on the web and I feel like I could at least reassure myself that there are no gross structural defects or abnormalities. Then again, if there were anything "obvious" it would have been seen on the CT, right?

If I do decide to look, what should I look for?

Brain Blog Breakdown

solipsophistocracy — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:48:51 -0800

What are your favorite neuroscience blogs? I want to start reading some good neuroscience blogs. There are a lot out there, and I'm interested in finding out which ones various MeFites might give their stamp of approval. My particular interest is in social neuroscience, but please don't limit your responses based on that. Blogs that are somewhat related to neuroscience are would also be great to hear about (i.e. cognitive science, psychology, etc.). Also, do you have a particular method of staying current with said blogs that you feel is particularly effective?

Zero to Caltech in four years

McBearclaw — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:55:03 -0800

Today, I have an MS in sociology from a state school. Four years from now, I'd like to be starting at a high-quality social science PhD program. How do I get there? I am living in Denver for the duration of my girlfriend's Master's program - which is going to take about four years, courtesy of Colorado's crazy requirements for school counselors. At the end of those four years, I would really like to get into a great grad program - right now, the Brain, Mind and Society program at Caltech, the Human Complex Systems program-to-be at UCLA, the new Economic Sociology Program at MIT-Sloan, or the CASOS program at Carnegie Mellon are the ones that make me starry-eyed. If you poke through my profile, you might find a question from me from earlier this year saying that I didn't want to do research. I do, now - I really do - in large part because I have discovered programs like these that combine disciplines and skills. To me, a social science that draws on neuroscience and complexity, backed with some strong computational skills, would have the ability to do amazing things.

Granted, all of those programs are far out of my reach right now. Maybe they always will be. But I have four years in which to make some kind of a play for interdisciplinary social science glory. The best route to this, I suspect, is by proving that I am both interested and capable of research. No problem there: I've got a couple of publications out for review right now, many ideas in the works. The problem is, I need time to work on these things. And I also need to eat.

I basically see four options here, aside from giving up:

1. A grant/lottery/free money. "Matt, you're a genius/lucky/dead sexy! Here's money to research!"
2. A job that lets me work on research while I'm there, like working in a security kiosk or at a slow hotel.
3. A freelance job. I have yet to see any evidence that people do social research on a contract basis, which seems weird to me.
4. Another grad program. As I mentioned, I'm very interested in neuroscience and computer science - I definitely wouldn't mind learning more about either. Some obvious problems there (e.g. it has to be at a Denver university), but not a terrible choice.

Mini-résumé: many kinds of regression, multilevel, spatial stats, path analysis, qualitative research. Familiar with economics, organizations, criminology, and have BS in political science. Program in R, SPSS, and Visual Basic .NET.

The questions, then: Is this possible? Can somebody with a 700V/750Q GRE, a middling undergrad and MS background, and a fistful of publications break into a program like these? If so, which of the above routes would you recommend?

Of course, I am open to suggestions on both programs and tactics to get into them, and basically anything else you might want to add. I will be watching this question closely and will try to answer questions as quickly as possible.

Crazy bonus points if you have gone through something similar, have been on an admissions committee, have Denver-specific advice, or otherwise know the score.

I know this might not result in much - but I would really appreciate whatever advice you have to offer. Thanks in advance.

Is it too late for SCIENCE?!?

malaprohibita — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:03:58 -0800

After nearly 15 years in other fields, is it too late to think of a career in science? I have a humanities undergraduate degree, and a master's in information science, but lately I'm pulled towards neuroscience and the biological bases for human psychology. I was always pretty good at biology and chemistry in high school and college (not so much in advanced mathematics or physics), but a lot of time has passed since then. Would graduate programs still feel that I have enough to contribute to the field, assuming that I'm not grossly under qualified? Do you think the culture shock would be great? (I read over this AskMe, and while there is good advice there, I'm not interested in clinical psych.) Any and all insight is appreciated: good news, interesting news, or bad news. And my email is in my profile if you'd prefer to answer off-list.

"Brain Training" via videogames: breakthrough or big lie?

phylum sinter — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:29:25 -0800

Brain Training Games like Brain Age are a big hit lately -- Do you think they actually improve cognition? [Note: already aware of this thread about sharpening the mind in general. Good advice over there.]

Being both a gamer and a fan of brains puts me right at the intersection of this demographic.

Brain Age 1 & 2 (for Nintendo DS), Brain Challenge (for PC, and Lumosity (browser/online) all have similar claims - improve memory, focus, cognition and reaction time through simple puzzles.

Certainly sounds great, and i'd like to believe that this type of training actually increases my mental capacity outside the game. That said, i am not alone in my skepticism of a game's ability to do this on its' own. There are lots of studies that seem to show both positive and null effects of these games. The biggest problem seems to be that the bulk of the positive results seem focused on showing how well peoples scores within the framework of the game after practice, and not much else.

Does anyone have any evidence, anecdotal or academic in nature that shows more concretely how much these games can actually improve cognitive function?

Brain oscillations? Why?

zeek321 — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:06:10 -0800

Neurosciencefilter: Why does coordinated, oscillatory behavior spontaneously arise in networks of sparsely connected inhibitory neurons? (e.g. theta oscillations in the hippocampus) I know that complex, organized phenomena can arise from simple interactions (e.g. whirlpools down the bathtub drain), but I'm looking for deeper insight. Is there math that "explains" this? Chaos theory? Incoming bioengineering/neuroscience grad student, here. I was playing with a super-simple, off the shelf, quasi-biophysical network model in Matlab, and Mr. Postdoc nonchalantly reaches over and tweaks the current level, synaptic weights, and connection statistics, and the silly thing starts robustly oscillating (i.e., all the "neurons" fire together, wait a bit, fire again, and repeat). I mean, huh? What's going on here?

http://vesicle.nsi.edu/users/izhikevich/publications/net.m

I know this is moving into unsolved neuroscience mysteries territory, but I'm guessing there's some insight there, maybe a lot. Electrical engineering/mathy background. Hit me with the good stuff.

(For me, this was like a lesser version of seeing a message from aliens embedded in the digits of pi. Maybe such a reaction is unwarranted.)

Transhumanism in the Real World.

tybeet — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:58:42 -0800

Real-life examples of "transhumanism" / the fusion of body and "machine". Dear Meta Hive,

I'm giving a seminar for my class on the psychology of transhumanism. I'm looking for articles, books, and news about the real-world application of transhumanist principles and methods. My primary interest is in the clinical application of such methods (i.e. for therapy or relief of mental illnesses), but some of my seminar talk will also cover enhancement technologies and even some novelties / "techs seeking a purpose".

I have some things in mind which will serve as good examples:

I know for one, that brain pace-makers have been used to treat Alzheimer's and more recently depression. There are also bio-optic implants and cochlear implants which serve to restore sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf - these are fascinating to consider for persons who were born deaf or born blind. (Is there an analogue for the tactile sense or for smell??)

Some other things to mention are: brain chips, neurofeedback, various cyborg-prostheses, and some other cyber-punk-esque themes like nootropics, brain-computer interfaces and memory implants.

Of course, as I said I am greatly interested in other examples anyone can give besides the ones I mentioned (since I'm undoubtedly missing many) and even for the ones I do have, I'd like to have multiple sources citing uses of these things and etc. I've linked all Wikipedia articles, but I cannot use Wikipedia as a source for obvious reasons, and I would prefer reputable sources (BBC, SciAM, Newscientist) since I can follow up on these to find the scholars behind them most easily (this IS, afterall, a formal psychology seminar - I can only use so much that is bizarro futurism), scholarly articles are excellent, and even papers discussing the ethos of these things are welcome too.

Have at it!

Voices inside my head/Echoes of things that you said. Repeat.

TheSecretDecoderRing — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:40:10 -0800

When it's really quiet as I try to fall asleep, I'll sometimes hear faint sounds that seem to have been things I'd heard earlier in the day, with what's almost like a residual effect. It mostly seems comprised of co-workers talking, TV/radio broadcasts, and the vocal parts of songs (which doesn't include "Helter Skelter"). It's almost like hearing one's own "inner voice" (at least, I'm assuming), but more faint and on auto pilot. Is this a fairly common occurrence, and what's the cause of it? I've often been tempted to remember certain things I "hear" to look up later, such as various facts or song lyrics that my conscious mind doesn't know, but naturally I forget by the time I get a chance to.

So are these sounds mostly my own mind coming up with these sounds, or are they actually things it might've subconsciously picked up amidst background noise throughout the day, and later plays back almost like an echo?

PubMed

kldickson — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:03:48 -0800

Medfilter: For those of you who are familiar with PubMed, is there some super-secret way to access the full articles on that site, or is it just abstracts? Would appreciate it especially if people such as ikkyu2, who do stuff in related fields to the one in which I am a student, could respond. I don't know about whether there might be differences in occurrences of journal articles online.

I have a lot of other resources I can use, of course, it's just that PubMed can be specialized and I know many people sing its praises.

I am 36 years old and I want a career change.

SoulNoise — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:54:21 -0800

I am 36 years old and I want a career change. I need to make some important decisions and really could use some input. btw, i live in the Netherlands.
I studied Biology, but didn't finish. It's a complicated story, but besides writing a thesis i was almost a neuroscience researcher. In my final year i started working part time in a record store, with friends. Part time turned into 4 days a week, i bought a house, and got a kid. Sometimes i missed science, but i enjoyed my life, because i love music and i was working with friends. Almost 8 years later now though, i feel like i am standing still. I want a new job, but i don't know what kind of job. A research job is out of the question, because i don't have a degree and it's been too long now.
The only thing i know is that i need a challenge.
Just out of curiosity i applied for a spot at a big ict quality management company since they were looking for 100 new people, no experience needed. I passed the analytical tests (that day 2 out of 10 got through) but i turned the offer down, because it just didn't feel like me, wearing a suit and working for banks.
So i know i (still) have a good brain, and i like to start using it again. I feel (and look) young enough, but in reality i am not that young anymore, with a near empty resume. I thought about learning a programming language, but i don't know which one and i feel i'm better at analysing and researching stuff than building from scratch. Actually i miss science. The feeling of being cutting edge. Experimenting and finding stuff no one has ever thought about before. I would love to do stuff like that again, only in a corporate environment. Should i start learning a computer language? Should i be a software tester? What job would i be able to do? I'm not looking for my dream job yet, right now i want to get out of this rut.
Any help and suggestions greatly appreciated !

Starting a PhD, time to start a lab notebook?

doctor.dan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:56:38 -0800

I'm about to embark on a PhD in cognitive neuroscience (imaging genetics, to be specific). It's going to be a long 4 years, is keeping a lab notebook going to ease the discomfort? I know lab notebooks are very popular in fields that are heavy on biology, but my stuff won't be (apparently you have to keep human participants in one piece…). What do you put in a lab notebook? Is it really that useful?

I'll want to be able to run multiple projects at the same time and keep track of what is going on where (i.e., equipment required, what I still need to do to get the project going, room/equipment bookings, participant schedule, etc etc).

If keeping a lab notebook isn't really that useful, what other clever uses are there for my Moleskine (preferably something that will make the phd easier to tolerate).

Advice for faculty position job interview?

gaspode — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:48:56 -0800

I just found out that I have an phone interview for a faculty (assistant professor) position (biology) at a liberal-arts college this Wednesday afternoon. Yay! But I've never actually had a formal interview before. Help! Also, I'm pregnant. Questions and advice requests inside. Some background: Right now I'm a post-doc in a Neuroscience department at a medical school. This is my second post-doc position. I left the first one with several publications, but sooner than I would have wished because my husband and I were finding living in different cities untenable. I have never had any sort of interview. I did my PhD in New Zealand, where, at least at my university, there was no formal interview process, you just found a mentor, applied for a scholarship and if you got one you were good to go. My two post-docs (both in the USA) have been arranged through networking and chatting to people at meetings followed by informal and then formal job offers.

My specific questions: Most of the interview advice I read online really seems geared to business or IT-type interviews. Do academic interviews follow similar or different lines? Am I going to be asked about my biggest weaknesses, or will they be more likely to stick to asking about my research, teaching philosophies etc? I intend to do a lot of research on the institution in the next couple of days (beyond what I read about when I applied). How important is it to know the ins and outs of the research of everyone in the department? (remembering that we are just at phone interview stage?) Also, the job posting mentioned a reasonable amount of administration (they are developing a new concentration in neuroscience) which I would love, but I have no actual administration experience. Is enthusiasm enough?

When I started sending out applications, I wasn't pregnant and wasn't expecting to be due right at the start of the fall semester, so obviously wouldn't be able to start then. Is this something I should bring up from the outset?

Finally, any other advice for faculty job interviews would be much appreciated!

Uh well I love you girl....

moxiedoll — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:34:31 -0800

Calling all neuroscientists! Is there a word for the times when you see something but don't know that you've seen it? I was at Starbucks today and saw that there was a display of Buddy Holly CDs on the counter. I thought goddamn, that's why when I walked out of here yesterday I was singing "Peggy Sue" in my head. At the time I thought that I thought of the song randomly, but I know that I must have seen the CDs without knowing I saw them because this has happened to me before. I know the word "subconscious", but as far as I understand the term, it doesn't fit. (After all, I'm not driven by Buddy Holly drives, nor am I frightened of him such that I'd repress the the sight of him). Is there a term for this phenomenon, where you notice something enough to start a thought process, without actually noticing it?

Help Me Name My Major

dmaterialized — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:53:04 -0800

Name-my-major, Hivemind. So I go to an unusual school in that we don't have clear-cut majors, and we basically pick an area of "focus". I'm actually currently (unofficially) studying my own brain, because it's strangely hampered in certain capacities (like the process of reading music, despite being very musical and understanding cognitively exactly what's going on), or performing basic math (despite endless repetition). It's also weirdly bolstered in other regards: I have an unbelievable propensity for forming the visual "distortions" one might associate with hallucinogens. I was also recently diagnosed as having an "inattentive" ADD (as opposed to hyperactivity) but I actually think I've got a different and less generalized issue-- certain cognitive activities simply shut my brain off completely, as if I'm asleep; I'll have very little memory of things that happen during this time (Ritalin does help, but it really doesn't feel like "the right thing"). Visual stimuli, on the other hand, is unbelievably compelling.

But, long story short, this stuff FASCINATES me. That's an understatement-- I really want to understand how this all works, and how it works in other people. I'm interested in the ways in which perception and consciousness interact (why I see things my way and you see things your way, and how they relate). Neuroscience fascinates me (especially the effects of drugs and the ways the brain responds to stimuli), but so do deeper levels of psychology (things like memory distortion, feedback loops, and psychosis).There just needs to be some kind of focal point-- this isn't purely neuroscience, because the psychological dimension is very significant. But what is it?

For an idea of where I'm headed: my favorite books recently are Proust Was a Neuroscientist, Musicophilia, Timothy Leary's "The Psychedelic Experience", and Rita Carson's awesome "Exploring Consciousness". What kind of connection can you make of that? What is this specific field called? Does it even exist? I just need a reference point, somewhere I can branch from. I'm going to be doing a final project in this area next term, but without knowing what kind of research I should be looking at, it's hard to know what to do.

I've been doing this on my own for a while (I tell people I'm studying "consciousness and human perception"), and amassed some kickass links and great books, but I just hope someone out there has a sense of how to focus it a bit more. Any ideas-- on terminology, on projects, on work that would explore this?

What is life like as a research scientist?

infinityjinx — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:12:59 -0800

Nosy filter: You are a research scientist in psychology, neuroscience, brain imaging, and/or related. What is your job like? Tell me anything and everything...before I apply to grad school. For example...What are your hours? What do you do each day? Do you work for a university or in the private sector? Do you profess as well? Do you work mostly alone, or mostly with others? Do you work with people or animals? Do you travel? What is a typical day like? Do you enjoy it? Is it high stress? Are you burning out? Any advice for someone just starting out? Thank ye in advance - and feel free to email me.

Neuroscience + Computer Science = ????

mayfly wake — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:22:20 -0800

What are my options for combining neuroscience and computer science in a graduate school setting? I am about to complete my undergraduate degree in neuroscience and am in the process of applying for PhD programs in the same; however I am having serious second thoughts. I do not think that I want to do conventional lab work and am leaning more towards computational neuroscience, possibly in the neural networking/A.I. realm. Caveats: My computer science background consists only of courses in high school and a few dubious skills picked up along the way on my own. What type of program should I be looking for that will give me a good grounding in computer science (and accept someone with my background) but allow me to continue with neuroscience? Am I looking for computational neuroscience? Bioinformatics? Cognitive science? Masters or PhD? Should I be getting lab experience first as a research assistant? Do I need to do some kind of post-bac program in CS first? Help me plan my future!

New York Creative Writing/Critical Theory PHD

0bvious — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:48:51 -0800

New York Creative Writing/Critical Theory PHD: I am currently undertaking an MA in Creative Writing and Critical Theory in London, and plan to go on to PHD after I finish. I would ideally like to go to an East coast USA/New York university to do this (for several reasons). I'd like some help with finding a good list of possible institutions... I am interested in Narrative form, from a Creative/Critical theory perspective. I also want the ability to utilise other areas of any university I take a PHD in to broaden the scope of my thesis, thus:

- I am interested in the Evolutionary origins and purpose of narrative (a university established in Evolutionary Psychology perhaps).

- I am also interested in the neuro-psychology of narrative form, (i.e. Which came first: the narrative or the human mind? How does each relate to/influence the other?)

- My studies will necessarily follow a semiological/semiotics path...

A New York based university with departments and/or specialists in these fields and a firm PHD basis in Creative and Critical Theory is what I am looking for.

Does such an institution exist?

Simulating the corners of my eyes.

Brainy — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:14:43 -0800

Possible-Neuroscience-filter: How can I simulate the way things look through our fovea vs. through our peripheral? Using Photoshop. I'm really interested in how 95% of the "pixels" of our eyes are in the center. I'm constantly trying to "look" at the corners of my eyes to see how I actually see things that I'm not looking at.

Would anybody be able to give me a rundown on the qualities our peripheral has that our fovea doesn't so I could whip up a Photoshop simulation? I feel it would be a great tool for understanding what people may experience when looking at any artwork I create.

My best possible answer would be like: "The peripheral doesn't have as many rods so detail would be blurry, however it has just as many cones so color would not be blurry." The more specific you can be, the better (but I'm not a neuroscientist, just a designer).