Students must apply for enrolment in the programme. The exam committee decides about admission on an individual basis. In general, a Bachelor degree (or equivalent thereof) with excellent grades in cognitive science, behavioural science, biomedical science, science of language, or natural science and sufficient training in mathematics and statistics, suffices for enrolment. As a general rule, the following admission requirements hold for the four specialisations:
Language and Communication
For the specialization Language and communication students should have basic knowledge in the areas listed below. The level of knowledge in each of these areas is equivalent with the content of the handbooks that are listed together with these areas: (i) Introductory Psycholinguistics (Carroll, D.W., 1999, Psychology of language; or Whitney, P., 1998, The psychology of language); (ii) Introductory Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics (O'Grady, W., Dobrovolsky, M., & Katamba, F., 1997, Contemporary linguistics: An introduction); (iii) Cognitive Psychology, especially memory and perception (Eysenck, M.W., & Keane, M.T., 1993, Cognitive psychology: A student's handbook); (iv) Experimental design and statistics (Moore, D.S., & McCabe, G.P., 1993, Introduction to the practice of statistics; or McClave, J.T., Dietrich, F.H., & Sincich, T., 1997, Statistics).
Students should at least have the level of knowledge indicated above with respect to areas (i), (ii) and (iv), or (i), (iii) and (iv) when starting with the specialization psycholinguistics. If knowledge in some of these areas is missing, the student is expected to acquire this knowledge either before starting the programme or during the first period of the programme.
Perception, Action and Control
For the specialization Perception, Action & Control students should have basic knowledge in the areas listed below. Students with a B.Sc. in Physics, should minimally have completed courses on Introduction in Biophysics or Introductory courses on Brain and Behaviour. The approximate level of the courses corresponds to chapters in Kandel et al. (2000), Principles of Neural Science, or R.K. Hobbie (1997), Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology. Students with a B.Sc. in Biology should be familiar with basic principles of biophysics, corresponding to the level of R.K. Hobbie (1997), Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology. Students in BioMedical Sciences should be familiar with basic principles of Neuroscience and Biophysics, corresponding to Kandel et al. (2000), Principles of Neural Science, or R.K. Hobbie (1997), Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology. Students with a B.Sc. in Psychology should have completed introductory courses in Psychonomics, Perception or Motor Control. The approximate levels of these courses correspond to chapters in M. Gazzaniga (2000), The New Cognitive Neurosciences, S. Palmer (1999), Vision science and D. Rosenbaum (1992), Human motor control, respectively.
All students need to be prepared for courses at the level of Kandel, Cazzaniga and Hobbie. In case a student does not have acquired the indicated levels, he or she is expected to acquire this knowledge before starting the programme[1].
Learning, Memory and Plasticity
The objective of this research theme is to study the mechanistic underpinnings and behavioral consequences of long-term changes in neural structure and function. Research methods include molecular and cellular neuroscience, animal models, neuroimaging, cognitive neuropsychology, and translation into clinical as well as educational neuroscience. This theme is divided into two sub-themes. (1) Development, Degeneration & Adaptation. Here the determinants, mechanisms, and consequences of normal and abnormal development, neural degeneration and the adaptation to specific internal and environmental factors are studied. This research is fundamental in nature, but with a strong translational drive towards clinical neuroscience. Examples include neurogenomics and child psychiatry for development; aging and neurodegenerative disorders for degeneration and stress-related changes and compensation after brain damage for adaptation. (2) Learning & Memory. Here the neural and psychological mechanisms underlying normal and impaired memory are investigated implementing also a translational angle towards both clinical and educational neuroscience. Students with a B.Sc. in Biology should be familiar with basic principles of biophysics, corresponding to the level of R.K. Hobbie (1997), Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology. Students in BioMedical Sciences should be familiar with basic principles of Neuroscience and Biophysics, corresponding to Kandel et al. (2000), Principles of Neural Science, or R.K. Hobbie (1997), Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology. Students with a B.Sc. in Psychology should have completed introductory courses in Psychonomics, Perception or Motor Control. The approximate levels of these courses correspond to chapters in M. Gazzaniga (2000), The New Cognitive Neurosciences, S. Palmer (1999), Vision science and D. Rosenbaum (1992), Human motor control, respectively.
Brain Networks and Neuronal Communication
The specialization Brain Networks and Neuronal Communication (BNNC) deals with brain networks ranging from the smallest scale: communication between individual neurons, up to the largest scale: communication between different brain areas. It intends to provide students with the tools and insights necessary to conduct research in this area. Using advanced mathematical tools, this track prepares students for cutting-edge neuroscience research.
Students who are interested in this specialisation are expected to already have a high level of mathematical skills and/or training in physics, engineering or computer science based on their BSc studies. Highly motivated students with a more cognitive science background can get quickly up to speed by taking our math courses specifically geared towards cognitive neuroscience. Selected students will do research for their Master's thesis in the labs of the Donders Institute, thereby taking advantage of the unique scientific environment where theory and experiment work together.
In case a student does not have acquired the indicated levels, he or she is expected to acquire this knowledge before starting the programme.
[1] Students who did not follow physics in their highschool curriculum and/or who have not been trained in mathematics at level B, are advised before the start of the programme to work on the assignment in Chapters 1, 2, 7, 8 and 11 (three chapters on physics and two on mathematics) of R.K. Hobbie: "Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology", Springer Verlag, New York, 1997; third edition, ISBN 1-56396-458-9).
