BSc Neuroscience
Entry requirements
A level: BBB
About this course
BSc (Hons) in Neuroscience, exploring the structure and function of the nervous system. Core topics include Programming, Research Methods, and Critical & Analytical Thinking. The course includes an optional placement year for work experience in academia, industry or through study abroad schemes. The final year includes a research project and optional modules allowing specialisation in areas such as computational neuroscience, neurological disorders, or synaptic plasticity.
Modules
- Receptor Theory and Toxins: Learn how body systems function through the exploration of the role of receptors in communication and the use of drugs and toxins to uncover physiological function.
- Biochemistry and Cell Biology: Learn how our cells function, how neurons communicate with each other, and how drugs work.
- Cellular Neurobiology: Develop an understanding of how neurons function through the exploration of neural communication and the use of drugs and toxins to uncover physiological function.
- Immunobiology: An overview of the key cells, molecules and systems to give an understanding of the immune system.
- Systems Biology: An introduction to the integration and interdependence of systems in neuroscience, pharmacology and physiology.
- Key Skills 1: Transferable skills development including data literacy, critical thinking, and personal development.
- Peripheral Pharmacology: Develop an understanding of the function and dysfunction of the peripheral nervous system.
- Neuropharmacology: Develop your knowledge of key cells, molecules, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators involved in the central nervous system (CNS) and the main pharmacological interventions in brain function such as antidepressants, sedatives and anaesthetics.
- Personalised Medicine: This module focuses on how advances in genomic and immune system understanding have led to therapies for previously intractable autoimmune diseases, cancers, and introduces you to pharmacogenomics and pharmacoepidemiology, two powerful emerging disciplines which factor in race, ethnicity age and sex into pharmacotherapeutics.
- Molecular Neurobiology: An exploration of how the complex interplay of molecules in neurons leads to fundamental processes such as memory formation, and how new developments in our understanding of molecular biology provides new and powerful targets for drug development.
- Advanced Systems Neurobiology: Bring your knowledge of molecules, cells and networks together to understand how the key systems in our brain communicate and co-ordinate to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
- Key Skills 2: Further develops your transferable skillset necessary to stand out in today’s graduate job market. Enhance your skills in CV writing, job application and interview skills, alongside scientific writing, and funding research.
- Placement: Gain vital work experience in academia, industry or through our study abroad schemes to broaden your knowledge, develop your transferable skills and really stand out in the post-graduate job market.
- Neurological Disorders: This module will cover a range of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, looking at how changes in molecules, cells and networks leads to conditions like dementia, Parkinson's, depression and epilepsy.
- Final Year Research Project: You'll undertake an extended piece of research and present your findings to a scientifically engaged audience. We offer a wide range of project choices, supervised by experienced Neuroscience researchers.
- Advanced and Applied Synaptic Plasticity: Learn how synaptic plasticity guides brain development, and how this can go wrong in disease states. Teaching is based around discussions of the latest literature in the field.
- Abnormal Neuronal Networks: Using a combination of in-depth reading, group presentation of journal articles and directed discussion, this module explores how changes in neuronal connectivity and synaptic function underlie the development of epilepsy and schizophrenia.
- Hacking the Brain: Various methods to enhance cognitive function will be discussed, including an array of pharmacological interventions, genetic manipulations, neural implants, and altered states of consciousness.
- Physiology and Pathophysiology of Movement: The students will discuss the physiology of muscle coordination to achieve movements. The module will provide insight into the pathophysiology of movement control after stroke and spinal cord injury.
- Computational Neuroscience: Learn from in-depth lectures and discussions, as well as hands-on coding workshops, the various approaches used to model the human brain in silico, from simple neurons to large-scale networks.
- Modelling Repair and Regeneration in the Injured Central Nervous System: Through active reading, journal presentation and critical evaluation, you will investigate basic concepts of traumatic injury to the CNS; the research concept of modelling repair and regeneration following injury and future therapeutic interventions.
- Early Life Stress and Neurodevelopment is known to affect brain development and function and is linked with the development of psychiatric disorders. This module will cover what is currently known about how early life stress modulates brain development and function, including studies of humans and animal models, and explore the underlying molecular mechanisms linking stress and pathology.
- Imaging Studies in Neurodevelopment: Through in-depth analysis and discussion of the literature, this module investigates how the wide variety of neuroimaging approaches (MRI, fMRI, MRS and MEG) may be used to investigate neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD, autism and the consequences of drug-induced neurodevelopmental changes, for example, foetal-valproate syndrome.
- Prion and Protein Misfolding Diseases: This module provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the scientific literature surrounding protein misfolding disorders, including prion diseases. Students will learn to navigate, interpret, and synthesize a wide range of primary research studies, enabling them to assess the breadth and depth of evidence in this evolving field. Through structured engagement with current literature, the module fosters scientific literacy, analytical thinking, and effective organisation of complex information.
- Total for three optional modules