PhD - Doctor of Philosophy in Psychological and Brain Sciences

University of California - Santa Barbara

The graduate program in Neuroscience and Behavior offers a balance between basic research and practical laboratory training in contemporary behavioral and systems neuroscience.The primary aim of the program is to help students gain an understanding of brain-behavior relationships with particular interest in identifying the biological mechanisms important for human and animal behavior. At UCSB, the faculty interests can be categorized into three broad subareas of research: visual neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, and psychopharmacology. Within these three subareas of specialization, the varying backgrounds and expertise of the faculty provide the student with an opportunity to explore such diverse research topics as: the biology of color vision the development and plasticity of neural circuitry, cytoarchitecture, and neurotransmitter systems the control of adult neurogenesis the neuroendocrinological and biopsychological analysis of motivated behavior the neurobiology and neurochemistry of drug reward and dependence and animal models of the neurobiological bases of neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

College of Letters and Science