Associate Professor Beulah Leitch is interested in the changes that occur at synapses (the contacts between brain cells that allow them to communicate with each other) during ageing and various brain disorders including epilepsy and AlzheimerвЂ™s disease.Associate Professor Christine Jasoni is researching how a motherвЂ™s health during pregnancy affects the formation of the foetal brain to elevate risk of mental illness.Professor Colin Brown investigates how the brain controls reproduction and cardiovascular function.Professor John Reynolds is interested in how we learn and remember skills, with a focus on ParkinsonвЂ™s disease and stroke.Associate Professor Mike Paulin is investigating how animals use sensory information to move quickly, accurately, and efficiently.His lab is also investigating biomarkers and therapeutic agents for AlzheimerвЂ™s disease. Professor Cliff Abraham is interested in the neural mechanisms of memory.Neuroscience students learn about this (and other) research as undergraduates, and can work in the lab with OtagoвЂ™s neuroscientists as postgraduates. Neuroscientists at the University of Otago are involved in a range of exciting research. Assessments are varied and include written examinations and laboratory reports. Many first- and second-year papers are taught through a combination of lectures and laboratory sessions, while third-year papers will have group projects and discussions. How will I study?Дue to the interdisciplinary nature of the Neuroscience programme, teaching styles vary between papers. Students without good marks in chemistry are strongly advised to enrol in the Bridging Chemistry paper during Summer School, prior to their first year of study.

Taking chemistry and biology to Year 13 is recommended. Knowing how the brain perceives stimuli and controls movement helps those working on human performance from sports science to space medicine. What they find helps neurologists, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists вЂ“ and provides important models for high-level information processing and robotics. They try to understand how the brain functions, how it deals with injury or damage, and how it develops and changes over time. The brain is a final frontierвЂ¦ a last great unknown. Apply for the Postgraduate Diploma in Science (PGDipSci) through the Dunedin campus in 2022 Apply Now Why study Neuroscience?

Masters of anatomy and neurobiology