NEUROSCIENCE GRADUATE PROGRAM

Subject abbreviation: NRSC College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Michael E. Adams, Ph.D. Director Biological Sciences Bldg.

• (951) 827-4746; fax: (951) 827-3087

Program Office, 1140 Batchelor Hall North

• (951) 827-4716; (800) 735-0717

neuro.ucr.edu

Professors Michael E. Adams, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology, Entomology) John Andersen, Ph.D. (Psychology) Curt Burgess, Ph.D. (Psychology) Monica J. Carson, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Christine Chiarello, Ph.D. (Psychology) Iryna M. Ethell, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Byron D. Ford, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Theodore Garland, Jr., Ph.D. (Biology) Xiaoping Hu, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Marcus Kaul, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Manuela Martins-Green, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Anandasankar Ray, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Wendy G. Saltzman, Ph.D. (Biology) Aaron Seitz, Ph.D. (Psychology) B. Glenn Stanley, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Emma Wilson, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Raphael Zidovetzki, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology)

Associate Professors Devin Binder, M.D. Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Djurdjica Coss, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Margarita C. Currás-Collazo, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Scott N. Currie, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Anupama Dahanukar, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Todd Fiacco, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Martin I. Garcia-Castro, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Peter W. Hickmott, Ph.D. (Psychology) Kelly J. Huffman, Ph.D. (Psychology) Edward Korzus, Ph.D. (Psychology) Khaleel Razak, Ph.D. (Psychology) Vijayalakshmi Santhakumar, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Seema Tiwari-Woodruff, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences)

Assistant Professors Garret Anderson, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Jun-Hyeong Cho, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Ilana Bennett, Ph.D. (Psychology) Nicholas V. DiPatrizo, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Timothy Higham, Ph.D (Biology) Kalina Michalska, Ph.D. (Psychology) Jernej Murn, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Martin Riccomagno, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Rachel Wu, Ph.D. (Psychology) Naoki Yamanaka, Ph.D. (Entomology) Hongdian Yang, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology) Edward Zagha, Ph.D. (Psychology) Weiwei Zhang, Ph.D. (Psychology) Sika Zheng, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) Peters, Megan, Ph.D. (Bioengineering)

** Adjunct Professor Shu-Wei (Richard) Sun, Ph.D.

The multidisciplinary interdepartmental graduate program in Neuroscience offers instruction and research training leading to the Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience. A Thesis Plan (Plan I) or Non-The- sis Plan (Plan II) M.S. degree in Neuroscience is available under special circumstances, when the work leading to the Ph.D. degree cannot be completed. Whether either of these options is appropriate will be decided by the student’s Guidance Committee typically either at the end of the first year, or at the time of the qualifying examination. See General University require- ments for Plan I and Plan II M.S. degrees: graduate.ucr.edu/masters.html.

The goal of this program is to prepare students for careers in research, teaching and scientific administration. The program is aimed at provid- ing high-quality graduate training for students who come from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds, but share a commitment and an intense interest in nervous system research. Students are expected to learn the fundamentals of neuroscience, starting with the required core sequence, become knowledgeable concern- ing a range of research methods as taught in neuroscience laboratories and demonstrate capability in original research. Graduate student training reflects the research competence and specialties of the faculty. That is, the specific research training received by a graduate student is the responsibility of the major professor/ mentor in whose laboratory the student carries out the research projects leading to the degree. Students benefit from an interdisciplinary training approach, tailored by the major advisor but enriched by the readily available expertise and laboratory facilities of program faculty with back- grounds ranging from chemistry to psychology.

Current UCR Neuroscience faculty have major appointments in several different departments but have a considerable degree of common interest in research problems and techniques. Furthermore, the three chief levels of analysis at which nervous systems are currently studied (molecular/cellular, systems, and behavioral) are more or less evenly represented by the interests and expertise of the faculty. Some faculty, as may be expected, carry out research programs that combine two or more of these levels of anal- ysis. These levels of analysis, which characterize the faculty’s research, indicate the breadth of integrated neuroscience at UCR but do not represent “fields of emphasis” in which students are to be trained.

Areas that faculty investigate include the following:

• • Glial-Neuronal Interactions

• • Physiological actions of ion channel toxins

• • Modulation of ion channels by neurotrans-

mitters and hormones

• • Auditory processing

• • Synaptic transmission and neural plasticity

in mammalian nervous systems

• • Signal transduction in excitable cells

• • Sensory and perceptual processes

• • Molecular biology of ion channel structure

and function

• • Receptor–channel interactions

• • Function of ligand-gated ion channels in

neurons

• • Influence of specific receptor proteins on

function

• • Synaptic and non-synaptic mechanisms in

neuroendocrine systems

• • Plasticity in adult central nervous system

• • Regulation of genes specifying neuronal

connections in developing and mature nervous systems

• • Molecular mechanisms that trigger dendritic

spine formation

Areas involving behaviors and diseases include the following:

• • Roles of glial cells in neurological disease

• • Neural control of eating, locomotory, and

social behaviors

• • Neuroendocrine regulation of innate and

social behaviors

• • Neural basis of language and reading

• • Neural networks controlling locomotion in

the spinal cord and brainstem

• • Auditory function in Fragile X Syndrome and

age-related hearing loss

• • Neurolinguistics

• • Individual differences in cortical anatomy

and relation to behavior

• • Learning and memory

• • Mechanisms of neuronal death in Alzhei-

mer’s disease, stroke, and other disorders

Admission Applicants must meet the general admissions re- quirements of the Riverside Division of the Aca- demic Senate and the UCR Graduate Council as set forth in the Graduate Studies section of this catalog, including completion of an undergrad- uate degree (B.S. or B.A.). They should have an adequate background in biological and physical sciences, ideally including courses in the fol- lowing or equivalent areas: General Biology, Genetics, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, and Statistics. Additionally, at least 20 quarter-units of courses distributed among the following areas are required, although applicants may be admitted with limited course work deficiencies and required to make up deficiencies as specified by the admissions committee: Biochemistry; Cell Biology; Molecular Biology; Physiology; Animal Behavior; Learning and Memory; Perception; Computer Science; and Neuroscience, Neurobiology, or Physiologi- cal Psychology, with laboratory.

Course Work Core requirements include:

• 1. NRSC 200A/PSYC 200A (Cell/Molecular

Neuroscience)

NRSC 200B/PSYC 200B (Systems Neuro- science)

NRSC 200C/PSYC 200C (Behavioral Neuroscience)

• 2. One Research Methods course selected

from CBNS 120L/PSYC 120L, CHEM 125, CHEM 221A, CHEM 221B, CHEM 221C, CHEM 221D, NRSC 201, PHYS 139L, PSYC 211

• 3. Two courses or one course sequence

selected from the following: BCH 110A or BCH 110HA, BCH 110B or BCH 110HB, BCH 110C or BCH 110HC, BCH 241/ CHEM 241, BIOL 200/CMDB 200, BIOL 201/CMDB 201, BIOL 203, CBNS 120/ PSYC 120, CBNS 127/PSYC 127, ENTM 201, PSYC 203A, PSYC 203B, PSYC 203C

The course option most appropriate to the stu- dent’s career goals is determined by the student in consultation with his/her guidance committee, which is formed during the first year.

• 4. During each quarter in academic residence

every student enrolls and participates in the Colloquium in Neuroscience (CMDB 257 or NRSC 287/PSYC 287), and, until passing the oral qualifying examination, every student takes at least two seminars, Special Topics in Neuroscience (NRSC 289, 2 units), during each year of academic residence. One seminar per year is required after the qualifying examination is passed.

• 5. After completing the course requirements

and no later than the ninth quarter in residence, the student is given a two-part qualifying examination, one written and one oral.

• 6. Regardless of whether financial support

comes from fellowships or research assis- tantships, etc., students must be teaching assistants for at least two quarters in Neuroscience or related-area courses, such as those taught by their mentors.

• 7. Within three months of advancement

to candidacy, the student must submit a written dissertation proposal to the dissertation committee for comments and approval. Before the dissertation is given final approval, the student must present a public lecture on the dissertation research to faculty and students in the program. Fol- lowing the public lecture, the student meets with the dissertation committee for an oral defense in accordance with the regulations of the Graduate Division.

Normative Time to Degree 16 quarters