The Specialist program in Neuroscience is a research-intensive program designed to provide students with strong breadth in the major domains of neuroscience. The Cognitive stream focuses on understanding the neural basis of human cognition (e.g., language, memory, attention, decision-making) predominantly through the use of patient neuropsychology and neuroimaging techniques (e.g., magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG)).
Students may not combine a Neuroscience Specialist program with a Minor or Major program from the Department of Biological Sciences.
Enrolment in the Program is limited. The admission requirements may change each year depending on available spaces and the pool of eligible applicants, and students are cautioned that there is no guarantee of admission; as such, students are strongly advised to plan to enrol in backup programs.
Enrolment takes place in two stages:
Stage 1:
The minimum requirements to be considered for admission are:
1. Completion of 4.0 credits, including BIOA01H3, BIOA02H3, CHMA10H3, [CHMA11H3 or CHMA12H3], PSYA01H3, and PSYA02H3
2. A CGPA of 2.75 or higher.
Students will typically apply to Stage 1 at the end of their first year of study. When applying, note that the Subject POSt code for Stage 1 is SCSPE1072. Application for admission will be made to the Office of the Registrar through ACORN, during the Limited Program application periods. For more information on applying to limited enrolment programs, please visit the Office of the Registrar website.
Stage 2:
To complete the program, students must choose one of the three available "Stage 2" streams: the Cognitive Stream, the Cellular/Molecular Stream, or the Systems/Behavioural Stream. Students will typically apply to Stage 2 at the end of their second year of study.
The minimum requirements to be considered for stream admission are:
1. Completion of 10.0 credits including: all Stage 1 course requirements, [MATA29H3 or MATA30H3], and all Neuroscience Foundations courses: BIOB10H3, NROB60H3, NROB61H3, [PSYB07H3 or STAB22H3], PSYB55H3, PSYB70H3
2. Completion of 1.0 credit in Stream Foundations courses from the following list*:
BIOB11H3 Molecular Aspects of Cellular and Genetic Processes
CSCA20H3 Introduction to Programming
CHMB41H3 Organic Chemistry I
CHMB42H3 Organic Chemistry II
MATA23H3 Linear Algebra
[PHYA10H3 Physics I for the Physical Sciences or PHYA11H3 Physics I for the Life Sciences]
PSYB51H3 Introduction to Perception
PSYC08H3 Advanced Data Analysis in Psychology
PSYC09H3 Applied Multiple Regression in Psychology
*Note: Students are advised to exercise caution when selecting these courses since some can be applied to all three streams (BIOB11H3, CHMB41H3, PSYB51H3, PSYC08H3), but others can be applied to only one or two streams.
3. A CGPA of 2.5 or higher.
Students who are not enrolled in the Stage 1 Neuroscience Specialist can still apply to the program at Stage 2. The minimum requirements to be considered for admission via this pathway are: completion of 10.0 credits, including all Stage 1 course requirements, [MATA29H3 or MATA30H3], all Neuroscience Foundations courses, and 1.0 credits from Stream Foundations. Students must also have achieved a CGPA of 2.5 or higher across all courses, and a CGPA of 2.75 or higher across the Neuroscience Foundations and Stream Foundations courses.
Application for admission to a Stage 2 stream will be made to the Office of the Registrar through ACORN, during the Limited Program application periods.
Program Requirements
This program requires students to complete 6.5 credits in core courses that are common to all streams. Students will complete a further 7.0 credits, specific to the Cognitive stream, for a total of 13.5 credits.
CORE (6.5 credits)
1. Scientific Foundations (3.5 credits):
BIOA01H3 Life on Earth: Unifying Principles
BIOA02H3 Life on Earth: Form, Function and Interactions
CHMA10H3 Introductory Chemistry I: Structure and Bonding
[CHMA11H3 Introductory Chemistry II: Reactions and Mechanisms or CHMA12H3 Advanced General Chemistry]
[MATA29H3 Calculus I for the Life Sciences or MATA30H3 Calculus I for Physical Sciences]
PSYA01H3 Introduction to Biological and Cognitive Psychology
PSYA02H3 Introduction to Clinical, Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology
2. Neuroscience Foundations (3.0 credits):
BIOB10H3 Cell Biology
NROB60H3 Neuroanatomy Laboratory
NROB61H3 Neurophysiology
PSYB55H3 Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience
[PSYB07H3 Data Analysis in Psychology or STAB22H3 Statistics I]
PSYB70H3 Methods in Psychological Science
COGNITIVE STREAM (7.0 credits)
3. Quantitative and Methodological Skills (1.5 credits):
PSYC02H3 Scientific Communication in Psychology
PSYC70H3 Advanced Research Methods Laboratory
[PSYC08H3 Advanced Data Analysis in Psychology or PSYC09H3 Applied Multiple Regression in Psychology]
4. Advanced Programming (1.5 credits)
MATA23H3 Linear Algebra
[[CSCA08H3 Introduction to Computer Science I and CSCA48H3 Introduction to Computer Science II]* or [PSYB03H3 Introduction to Computers in Psychological Research and PSYC03H3 Introduction to Computers in Psychological Research: Advanced Topics]]
*Note: students are strongly advised to choose the [PSYB03H3 and PSYC03H3] pairing.
5. Advanced Foundations (1.5 credits)
PSYB51H3 Introduction to Perception
and two of the following:
PSYC51H3 Cognitive Neuroscience of Vision
PSYC52H3 Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention
PSYC53H3 Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
PSYC54H3 Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience
PSYC57H3 Cognitive Neuroscience of Decision Making
PSYC59H3 Cognitive Neuroscience of Language
6. Breadth in Neuroscience (1.0 credit):
two of the following (at least 0.5 credit must be at the C-level):
BIOB11H3 Molecular Aspects of Cellular and Genetic Processes
BIOC44H3/(NROC34H3) Neuroethology
CHMB41H3 Organic Chemistry I
NROC36H3 Molecular Neuroscience
NROC61H3 Learning and Motivation
NROC64H3 Sensorimotor Systems
NROC69H3 Synaptic Organization & Physiology of the Brain
7. Laboratory Course (0.5 credit):
one of the following:
NROC90H3 Supervised Study in Neuroscience
NROC93H3 Supervised Study in Neuroscience
PSYC75H3 Cognitive Psychology Laboratory
PSYC76H3 Brain Imaging Laboratory
8. Capstone Courses (1.0 credit):
two of the following:
PSYD17H3 Social Neuroscience
PSYD50H3 Current Topics in Memory and Cognition
PSYD51H3 Current Topics in Perception
PSYD54H3 Current Topics in Visual Recognition
PSYD55H3 Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Laboratory
PSYD62H3 Neuroscience of Pleasure and Reward
PSYD66H3 Current Topics in Human Brain & Behaviour
NROD98Y3 Thesis in Neuroscience*
*Note: only 0.5 credit of NROD98Y3 can be counted towards the Capstone course requirement
