Neuroscience

Neuroscientists examine the human brain and nervous system. Building from biology, biochemistry and psychology, neuroscience helps us understand how the brain works, how it can malfunction and how brain and nervous system functions can change. The neuroscience curriculum is based in the National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative, a collaboration between educators and neuroscientists that seeks to make core concepts in neuroscience available to a broader audience.

The neuroscience program has been designed to be cross-disciplinary, reflecting the cross-disciplinary field that neuroscience demands. Disciplinary fields include biology, chemistry and psychology, which are foundations for understanding neuroscience. You’ll gain a solid understanding of basic neuroanatomy and nervous system function on a molecular, cellular and systems level, and be able to describe the major areas of neuroscience with a clear understanding of the main research approaches. You’ll study the scientific process of hypothesis generation and testing as it relates to the field of neuroscience and be able to evaluate empirical research findings in terms of their theoretical basis, designs and methodologies.

The neuroscience program is a collaboration between Tiffin University and RIZE Education. You’ll have the advantage of earning an education in a small, private university dedicated to high faculty-student contact, while also learning from national specialists in the field, such as Dr. David Ross, Associate Professor of Psychology, Yale University; Dr. Adriane dela Cruz, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern; Dr. Ashley Walker, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and the Residency Training Director at the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Our undergraduate neuroscience program will provide you with a broad range of career options upon graduation. You’ll be qualified to work in jobs that offer a salary well above the national median. The program is also an ideal course of study for students who wish to pursue graduate studies in neuroscience itself, as well as those who wish to enter medical school – especially with an eye towards neurology, neurosurgeon and psychiatric care.

The B.S. Neuroscience program offers a comprehensive education in the foundations of neuroscience, preparing you for an exciting and growing field that is having a tremendous impact in the world of research, biotechnology and medicine.

The brain is complex and opens up vast opportunities for research. There exist many opportunities to unravel the brain’s activities, which could help answer an almost endless number of mysteries surrounding how it works. At the biological level, there are questions to answer involving how clusters of brain cells firing across neural networks regulate the body’s systems and also produce complex behavior. At a psychological level, scientists can study how the biological and chemical systems of the brain impact human behavior in a social structure. There exists a multitude of research options leading to potential better life for people.

Since 2010, neuroscience has grown to impact emergent technologies. Neuroscientists, who study brain activity, are impacting how technologies are structured based on brain behavior. For example, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) based on neuroscience research are allowing paralyzed patients to perform tasks such as turning thoughts into email or moving a hand to hold a loved one.

Neuroscience represents a potential for curing diseases and supporting a higher quality of life, for people suffering from diseases related to the mind and central nervous system. For example, electroceuticals are now used to regulate nerve signals, neuroregeneration is used in research to prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, genomic sequencing is used to provide personalized solutions for neurologic disorders, and genome editing is used to prevent cognitive-related diseases.

Hands-on learning is an integral part of the neuroscience program. You’ll participate in a 150-hour internship working with medical providers or neuroscience researchers. You’ll engage in a chosen scientific research project, working under a professor who will help guide your research effort to solve a problem in neuroscience. And, you’ll learn academic scientific processes, which can be applied to neuroscience research.

Labs and a hands-on curriculum involve actual application of scientific processes, as you will:

• Use scientific software and interpret data from laboratory procedures.
• Actively practice communicating scientific information through lab reports.
• Share knowledge learned through peer-to-peer discussions, presentations and interaction with people in the field.
• Present research in the field learned from scientific journals to classmates.
• Have the opportunity to complete individually chosen research projects guided by professors to present to national conferences.

The Center for Science and Technology

Tiffin University’s newest building on campus is our Center for Science and Technology – also referred to as “the STEAM building.” Here, you’ll engage in experiential laboratory exercises, using high-level instrumentation that is not used in other programs until graduate level coursework. Instrumentation includes GC-MS (Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry), HPLC (High-performance liquid chromatography) and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infared Spectroscopy), “Bod Pod” (to analyze the impact of physical activity on the human body) and DNA Sequential Analyzer. You’ll also learn anatomy and physiology to the molecular and cellular level using the Anatomage Table, a six-foot horizontal computer and virtual autopsy machine using digitized human bodies dedicated to science. TU is one of the few schools in the nation to have access to such a machine.

CURRICULUM

• BIO120 General Biology I and BIO210L Lab – 4 hours
• BIO121 General Biology II with BIO211L Lab – 4 hours
• BIO221 Human Anatomy and Physiology I (w) and BIO221L Lab – 4 hours
• BIO312 Human Anatomy and Physiology II (w) and BIO222L Lab – 4 hours
• BIO333 Genetics and BIO333L Lab – 4 hours
• CHM131 General Chemistry I with CHM131L Lab – 4 hours
• CHM132 General Chemistry II with CHM132L Lab – 4 hours
• CHM231 Organic Chemistry I with CHM231L Lab – 4 hours
• CHM232 Organic Chemistry II with CHM232L Lab – 4 hours
• CHM411 Biochemistry and CHM411L Lab – 4 hours
• NAT291 Drugs & The Body – 3 hours
• NSC315 Neuroscience I: Neuroscience Foundations (RIZE) – 3 hours
• NSC325 Neuroscience II: Biological Basis of Perception & Movement (RIZE) – 3 hours
• NSC335 Neuroscience III: Cognitive Neuroscience (RIZE) – 3 hours
• NSC415 Neuroscience IV: Clinical Neuropathology (RIZE) – 3 hours
• PSY101 Introduction to Psychology – 3 hours
• PSY362 Abnormal Psychology – 3 hours
• SCS300 Research Design – 3 hours
• SAS470 Internship

This is a sample course sequence to illustrate course offerings for this major. Consult the official Academic Bulletin for detailed registration and advising information.

SAMPLE COURSES

Neuroscience I: Neuroscience Foundations (NSC 315) – Perception and movement are fundamentally driven by biological processes. This course provides students with an understanding of the various systems and organs that play a role in the human ability to perceive the world and move through it. It builds upon Neuroscience Fundamentals to allow students to understand the impact of core neuroscience concepts. Offered online with RIZE Consortium.

Neuroscience II: Biological Basis of Perception and Movement (NSC 325) – This course introduces students to the field of neuroscience, explores the cellular and molecular basis ofneural systems, and discusses the neural basis of cognition. Students are expected to leverage their understanding of biology and chemistry to build a working knowledge of neuroscience fundamentals. Offered online with RIZE Consortium.

General Biology (BIO120) – This is the first half of a two-course sequence in intensive biology designed for students majoring in sciences. This course will introduce the principles and concepts of biology. Topics that will be covered in this course will include foundations in biology: chemical context of life; carbon and molecular diversity of life; energy transformations; the cell structure, signaling and metabolism; cell cycle; genetics of inheritance, gene expression, development and evolution; patterns of evolution and the origin of species. There is a lab component to this course.

Genetics (BIO 333) – This course is an introduction to the concepts of genetics. The course will cover the basic fundamentals of genetics and their applications. It will cover the current principles of heredity including gene structure, function, regulation and gene transfer. Other areas will include DNA technology, genomics, heritable diseases and population genetics, quantitative genetics, and evolutionary genetics. There is a required lab component to this course.

FORMAT

On Campus – Offered in a 15-week semester format with start dates in January and August

The ‘Rize’ courses within this program are offered online through a partnership with Rize Education. All courses are evaluated, approved, and assessed through Tiffin University’s standard governing processes and taught by participating faculty within a national consortium of accredited institutions.

Tiffin University’s undergraduate neuroscience program will provide you with a broad range of career options upon graduation – jobs that offer salaries well above the national median and are experiencing job growth anywhere between 160% and 210% of the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

CAREERS

• Biostatistician
• Clinical Psychologist
• Clinical Research Assistant
• Forensic Scientist
• Genetic Counselor
• Health Educator
• Laboratory Technician
• Medical Technician
• Medical Technology Sales
• Medical Writer
• Neurologist
• Neuropscyhologist
• Pharmaceutical Sales
• Pharmaceutical Sciences Communicator
• Pharmacy Technician
• Physician’s Assistant
• Psychiatrist
• Psychometrician
• Public Policy
• Research Assistant
• Research Scientist