University of Sussex

This is a three-year integrated course. Students are  introduced  to topics in medical neuroscience, including an introduction to neurological problems for which treatments have been devised and others that require resolution. In addition to the lectures, tutorial, practical and seminar learning are essential elements of the programme that enable learners to work both independently and in groups. The aim of the University is to encourage clear, informed thought and expression, as well as to stimulate inquiry and originality. In the second year students learn about neuroscience in greater depth. Also a wider field of developmental biology, which provides the intellectual underpinning for further understanding of congenital diseases, is introduced. Teaching is structured similarly to that in the first year, with an emphasis on the clinical application of neuroscience, and Techniques in Neuroscience gives students the opportunity to learn about and use techniques that are usually only available to research scientists. This course, together with statistics teaching, prepare for your final-year research project.

Core courses for Medical neuroscience

Year One

Gives a solid grounding. Students take introductory courses in human and animal physiology; behaviour; physics; molecular genetics and cellular biochemistry; and medical neuroscience. Special seminar courses focus on the clinical application of neuroscience.

Year Two

All aspects of neuroscience, from the basic biophysics of neurons to the way they communicate with each other and link together to form neural circuits that control behaviour. Students study behaviour as a consequence of disease and malfunction of the nervous system in Abnormal and Clinical Psychology. Other core courses are concerned with the development and anatomy of the nervous system and with medical neuroscience itself.

Year Three

Students specialise, choosing options in areas such as biological bases of mental disorders; cognitive neuropsychology; cooperation and conflict in animal societies; developmental neurobiology; endocrinology and disease; genes and development; immunology in health and disease; intelligence in animals and machines; neuronal plasticity and gene regulation; neuronal transduction and transmission; psychobiology of addiction; psychobiology of cognitive ageing and dementia; psychobiology of motivation and emotion; and sensory and motor function of the nervous system.