Behavioral Neuroscience

About the Program:

A program for graduate training in Behavioral Neuroscience is offered through the Department of Psychology at the University of Florida, Gainesville. This program aims to provide quality graduate education in Behavioral Neuroscience, with an emphasis on both biological and behavioral aspects. Our objective is to train and educate Ph.D. students in both teaching and research. A master's level degree generally is awarded only as a step along the way to the Ph.D.

• The program normally takes five years, two to the Master's and another 2-3 for the Ph.D.
• A qualifying examination is completed in the third year of study.
• Students are expected to start research projects immediately upon entry into the program.
• The Master's and Ph.D. theses thus emerge from ongoing research topics.
• After the Master's, all students are required to teach at least one Behavioral Neuroscience course.

Graduate students maintain active and exciting research programs under the mentorship of Faculty members in the Department of Psychology. Research opportunities include collaboration with Faculty and Students in the University of Florida Brain Institute and Department of Neuroscience.

Entrance Requirements:

All entering students must satisfy the general minimum requirements for entry into the Department of Psychology: a Verbal & Quantitative GRE score of 1100 or above, and an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above (exceptions may be made under unusual conditions, e.g. foreign applicants). Because of the research emphasis of the Behavioral Neuroscience program, our most successful applicants have strong undergraduate backgrounds in biological science or chemistry, with previous laboratory experience. Further, because students normally are admitted to work in particular faculty member's laboratory, applicants should indicate the laboratory(ies) in which they are most interested.

Financial Support:

• The current entry level stipend averages $14,000 / year.
• Students in good standing receive stipends and tuition waivers (excluding about $200 / semester in "miscellaneous fees").
• Some stipends are teaching assistantships, mostly available during Fall and/or Spring semesters.
• Other stipends come from research assistantships on faculty research grants, and fellowships (see below).
• Additional funds (eg. travel awards) are available on a competitive basis.

There are a number of fellowships available on a competitive basis. Students will be encouraged to apply to relevant federal and private agencies for predoctoral fellowships including programs for minority applicants. Stipends are available (usually for post-master's students) from the interdisciplinary NIMH-funded training Center for Neurobiological Sciences (see below). The Graduate School also offers several competitive fellowships and stipend supplements for entering students; applicants with suitable credentials will automatically be entered into these competitions by the admissions committee.

These photomicrographs illustrate an experiment wherein opioid receptor messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) was identified in sections of the rat brain.  The left photograph depicts m opioid receptor mRNA in a section of forebrain.  The patchy organization of the caudate nucleus can be clearly seen in this section.  The right photograph depicts the distribution of mRNA for the d subtype of opioid receptors.  In this case, laminar organization of the cortex is clearly visible.  This type of molecular analysis contributes substantially to our understanding of the neurobiological basis of behaviour.

Required and Elective Graduate Courses:

1: DEPARTMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

Students entering the Behavioral Neuroscience program must complete all of the Departmental requirements for the Ph.D. degree. These include graduate seminars in three out of five other areas in Psychology, and two statistics courses. Students with adequate preparation in any of these area(s) may be able to exempt out of the requirement(s).

2:AREA REQUIREMENTS

The Behavioral Neuroscience program is composed nominally of two separate tracks, Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology.

Physiological Track (Typical pre-master's program):

Elective specialty courses are available both through Behavioral Neuroscience and through various departments in the School of Medicine including Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology. Students will be encouraged to take relevant electives as and when they are offered.

Comparative track students take graduate courses in Behavioral Neuroscience, Comparative Animal Behavior, and other relevant courses offered through the Departments of Psychology and Zoology. It is expected that students will attend other relevant seminars both in the area as well as campus-wide. At the present time, we do not have the resources to offer a comprehensive comparative track.

The left panel illustrates taste buds lining the wall of the circumvallate papilla in the posterior tongue of the rat. When the glossopharyngeal nerve is severed (right panel) the taste buds disappear. Gustatory nerves, however, have an unusual proclivity to regenerate and reinnervate their receptor fields causing taste buds to reappear. These findings are representative of the kind of work currently being done by investigators of chemosensory systems in the Behavioral Neuroscience area of the Department of Psychology.

Town and Campus:

The University of Florida is a major international node of brain research including a newly-opened Brain Institute and over 50 associated faculty based in many academic departments. The Center for Neurobiological Sciences, an NIMH training program funded continuously since 1965, is a cohesive force in this large neuroscience community and, in addition to providing the training stipends mentioned above, sponsors numerous meetings, seminars, symposia, and social events. The Center provides travel funds for students to present research at scientific meetings. The Behavioral Neuroscience program has strong ties with this Center, and our students are expected to participate fully in its activities. Other academic Centers of relevance focus on Alcohol Research, Hearing Research, Neurobiology of Aging, Nutritional Sciences, and Smell & Taste. We encourage our students to learn techniques and to engage in interdisciplinary and collaborative projects with other groups on campus.

The Psychology Department itself has over 100 graduate students and 40 faculty in six main areas. Of most relevance for Behavioral Neuroscience students are the areas of Behavior Analysis and Cognitive/Sensory Psychology. These areas sponsor various seminars of general interest.

Students and Faculty in the Behavioral Neuroscience Program use a great variety of behavioral tools in combination with state-of-the-art methods in neurochemistry, electrophysiology, and molecular biology. The photograph at left illustrates complex enriched environments where rats are raised to study the impact upon development. The photograph at right illustrates a computer-controlled apparatus that is used for place conditioning, light/dark anxiety testing, and shuttle avoidance learning.