Master Neuroscience

Institution King's College London
Method At the institution
Location London
Type Masters
Course fee By request

+ Information by E-mail

Master Neuroscience

Objectives The programme provides post-basic specialist training in neuroscience, with an emphasis on subjects relevant to psychiatry and neurology. It seeks to equip graduates from a wide range of basic sciences for the next stage of their career, which may be either further full-time study in a neuroscience related academic research environment, or employment in an academic, clinical or pharmaceutical organisation.
Entry requirements people with at least a 2:2 in a biological subject; an approved professional or other qualification obtained by a formal examination or, for medical students, as an intercalated MSc.
Academic title MSc Neuroscience
Course description rogramme description

- The programme is the oldest-established programme of its type in the UK and is designed to appeal to students from varied backgrounds.
- Specialised graduate training in Neuroscience with an emphasis on subjects relevant to psychiatry and neurology, especially neurodegenerative diseases.
- Practical training in the skills necessary for a career in a research environment.

Neuroscience as a degree subject is still under-represented in the undergraduate sector and, consequently, most students come onto the programme with degrees in subjects other than neuroscience but have a common goal of extending their theoretical knowledge and practical skills beyond the subjects they studied at undergraduate level. Therefore, an aim of the programme is to equip graduates from these different backgrounds for the next stage of their career. This may be either further full-time study in basic neuroscience in an academic research environment or employment in an academic, clinical or pharmaceutical organisation. The syllabus reflects the research interests of the Institute of Psychiatry and especially of the Department of Neuroscience and the MRC Centre for Neurodegeneration Research, which is hosted by the department.

Programme format and assessment

Four written exams, four coursework essays, one laboratory notebook, one research report and one poster presentation.

Programme modules for MSc Neuroscience

Laboratory Notebook & Laboratory Skills (40 credits) (Core Module)
The module is one of 3 research modules of the MSc Neuroscience and consists of the laboratory notebook and an assessment of the student's behaviour in the laboratory/clinic. Together these reflect the level of engagement with which the student approaches their laboratory work, their level of preparation, attention to detail, and their ability to work efficiently and to follow instructions. Specifically, the module aims to provide the student with the knowledge and skills to keep a chronological log of everything that they do and observe in the laboratory, in the order that they did it, according to GLP (good laboratory practice) standards and to behave as a member of a research team, with regard for their own safety and that of the other team members. It aims to develop their practical laboratory skills, to record raw experimental data, to develop analytical problem solving skills that enable them to analyse the data, to draw conclusions from the analysis and then to design and conduct further experiments. For students working in a clinical setting, the module also aims to instruct them about the requirements for ethical approval and research governance. Successful students will have attained a level of achievement appropriate to students wishing to undertake research work, or further post-graduate training, within neuroscience. They will have practical experience of several specialised neuroscience research techniques that will equip them to conduct a supervised research project within their chosen research field. They will understand the requirements of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). This is an internationally-recognised quality control and assurance system, concerned with the organisational process and the conditions under which non-clinical laboratory activities are planned, performed, monitored, recorded, archived and reported. They will have learned how to record the experimental data in an appropriate scientific style, to analyse them and then to draw conclusions leading to further experiments. Students will know (i) that the laboratory notebook is the primary form of documentation in a research laboratory and that it is an extremely important legal document; (ii) that it can be used to establish a patent claim, assign credit for discovery of a phenomenon, document the honesty and integrity of data for publication, and trouble-shoot problems; (iii) that it can be subpoenaed in litigations and examined by regulatory authorities, e.g., H.& S.E and therefore formatting rules must be complied with, and: (iv) that it should be sufficiently complete so that another person can exactly repeat an experiment solely from information in the laboratory notebook. They will also have learned how to work safely in a laboratory both with regard to their own safety and that of the other team members. Additionally, students working in a clinical setting will also become familiar with requirements for ethical approval and research governance.

Neurodegeneration, Systems Neuroscience & Behavioural Neuroscience (20 credits) (Core Module)
The module is one of 4 taught modules of the MSc Neuroscience. It aims to first introduce students to those aspects of neurodegeneration (section 1), systems neuroscience (section 2) and behavioural neuroscience (section 3), that are considered relevant to an MSc in Neuroscience and then develops them to level 7 (the term 'sections' refers to WebCT terminology). It also aims to enable students to critically appraise the scientific literature relating to the above topics and to present their findings orally and as a presentation. It also aims that students will understand the topics sufficiently to carry out a supervised research project within these areas. The introductions are necessary because the undergraduate degrees of the students on the programme generally focus on a narrower range of disciplines (e.g. in physiology, biochemistry, or genetics etc) than those encountered in post-graduate neuroscience. Successful students will have attained a level of achievement appropriate to students wishing to undertake research work, or further post-graduate training, within the subject areas of the module. Therefore they will have a specialised knowledge of these areas and will have the ability to conduct a supervised research project within the subject areas, and to present their findings orally, as a poster and, in writing. After completing the sections comprising this module (neurodegeneration, systems neuroscience and behavioural neuroscience), students will understand: Section 1: the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuronal cell death, with particular reference to Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, motor neurone, Batten and prion diseases; amyloid precursor protein and its metabolism; presenilin biology; cytoskeleton and its involvement in neurodegeneration; free radical damage; clinical and pathological features and genetics of neurodegenerative diseases. Section 2: how neurones communicate, neuronal plasticity and cellular and molecular mechanisms of learning and memory in Aplysia and rodent hippocampus; The hypothalamic-pituitary axis; neural networks. Section 3: (i) how behaviour is measured in rodents, animal models of psychiatric and neurological disorders, and how genetic differences contribute to individual and strain differences in behaviour, and (ii) .a multidisciplinary approach to causes and mechanisms of drug dependence, dealing with both licit and illicit substances, and emphasizing the role of drug action in the central nervous system in the genesis of drug-seeking behaviour. They will also be able to critically appraise the scientific literature relating to the above topics and to present their findings orally and as a presentation.

Neurogenetics, Neuroimaging & Clinical Neuroscience (20 credits) (Core Module)
The module is one of 4 taught modules of the MSc Neuroscience. It aims to first introduce students to those aspects of Neurogenetics (section 1), Neuroimaging (section 2) and Clinical Neuroscience (section 3) that are considered relevant to an MSc in Neuroscience and then develops them.to level 7. (the term 'sections' refers to WebCT terminology). It also aims to enable students to critically appraise the scientific literature relating to the above topics and to present their findings orally and as a presentation and to understand the topics sufficiently to carry out a supervised research project within these areas. The introductions to each topic are necessary because undergraduate degrees generally focus on a narrower range of disciplines (e.g. in physiology, biochemistry, or genetics etc) than those encountered in post-graduate neuroscience. Successful students will have attained a level of achievement appropriate to students wishing to undertake research work, or further post-graduate training, within the subject areas of the module. Therefore they will have a specialised knowledge of these areas and will have the ability to conduct a supervised research project within the subject areas, and to present their findings orally, as a poster and, in writing. After completing the sections comprising this module (neurogenetics, neuroimaging and clinical neuroscience), students will understand: Section 1: The principles of genetics and molecular evolution; behavioural genetics; animal models, genes and human personality; the genetics of psychiatric and other complex disorders and, the use of bioinformatics.. Section 2: The theoretical basis, analytical methods, and practical applications of structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, and other functional imaging methods (e.g. SPET) Section 3: The clinical perspective on mental illness and the relation between the biology of the disease and the symptoms of the disorder, particularly in relation to affective disorders, anxiety and schizophrenia. They will also be able to critically appraise the scientific literature relating to the above topics and to present their findings orally and as a presentation.

Organisation & Development of CNS (20 credits) (Core Module)
The module is one of 4 taught modules of the MSc Neuroscience. It aims to first introduce students to those aspects of neuroanatomy and neuropathology (section 1) and developmental neurobiology (section 2) that are considered relevant to an MSc in Neuroscience and then develops them to level 7 (the term 'sections' refers to WebCT terminology). It also aims to enable students to critically appraise the scientific literature relating to the above topics and to present their findings orally and as a presentation. It also aims that students will understand the topics sufficiently to carry out a supervised research project within these areas. The introductions are necessary because undergraduate degrees generally focus on a narrower range of disciplines (e.g. in physiology, biochemistry, or genetics, etc) than those encountered in post-graduate neuroscience. Successful students will have attained a level of achievement appropriate to students wishing to undertake research work, or further post-graduate training, within the subject areas of the module. Therefore they will have a specialised knowledge of these areas and will have the ability to conduct a supervised research project within the subject areas, and to present their findings orally, as a poster and, in writing. After completing the neuroanatomy/neuropathology sections, students will be able to, for example, describe the general and specific arrangement of structures of the CNS, their inter-relationships and how CNS systems function. They will be able to describe the main pathological features of a variety of neurodegenerative diseases and understand and explain how biological dysfunction at a cellular level relates to neurodegeneration. After completing the developmental neurobiology section, students will be able to describe the major events during neural development, the order in which they occur, and outline their relative interdependency. They will know examples of the different classes of molecules involved in these core processes, including transcription factors, growth factors, receptors, signal transduction components, and extra-cellular matrix components. They will also understand how these core processes combine to the unified development of a neural system, such as the thalamo-cortical pathway. Students will also be able to critically appraise the scientific literature relating to the above topics and to present their findings orally and as a presentation.

Poster Presentation and Oral Examination (20 Credits) (Core Module)
The module is one of 3 research modules of the MSc Neuroscience and consists of a publicly presented research poster. Posters are a vitally important method by which scientists convey their results to a wider audience and defend their results and conclusions on a one-to-one basis to individual scientists. This module aims to provide the student with the knowledge and skills (i) to prepare a scientific poster that concisely communicates their research findings to a scientist who should be able to understand and assimilate the contents of the poster in under 10 minutes, and (ii) to defend their research methodologies, results and conclusions when examined orally. These skills will have been developed through the several presentations of previously published data that students give to their class throughout the year. The quality of the poster, and the student's understanding of their project and of related topics, are assessed by at least 3 members of the programme examination board. Successful students will have attained a level of achievement appropriate to their undertaking research work, or further post-graduate training, especially within the subject areas of their research project. The student will, through several presentations to the class of previously published data, have acquired the skills to make a scientific poster that quickly and effectively conveys the background, methods, results and conclusions of their research to the informed reader. They will have learnt how to design the poster so that it first engages the reader's attention and then persuades the reader to invest time in reading it from beginning to end, rather than reading just a single section or selected sections. They will also acquire the ability to engage in a discourse with critical readers and to defend aspects of their research.

Receptors, Cell Signalling & Neuroimmunology (20 credits) (Core Module)
The module is one of 4 taught modules of the MSc Neuroscience. It aims to first introduce students to aspects of Neurotransmitters and receptors (section 1), Cell signalling (section 2) and Neuroimmunology (section 3 ) that are considered relevant to an MSc in Neuroscience and then develops them.to level 7 (the term 'sections' refers to WebCT terminology). It also aims to enable students to critically appraise the scientific literature relating to the above topics and to present their findings orally and as a presentation and to understand the topics sufficiently to carry out a supervised research project within these areas. The introductions are necessary because undergraduate degrees generally focus on a narrower range of disciplines (e.g. in physiology, biochemistry, or genetics etc) than those encountered in post-graduate neuroscience. Successful students will have attained a level of achievement appropriate to students wishing to undertake research work, or further post-graduate training, within the subject areas of the module. Therefore they will have a specialised knowledge of these areas and will have the ability to conduct a supervised research project within the subject areas, and to present their findings orally, as a poster and, in writing. After completing the sections comprising this module students will understand: Section 1: The roles of neurotransmitters and receptors in neurotransmission. The criteria for identifying a substance as a neurotransmitter substance; details of activity, receptor binding, and specific agonists and antagonists, for the following neurotransmitters/neuromodulators: acetylcholine, enkephalin, GABA/glycine, dopamine, 5-HT, noradrenaline, glutamate. The electrical properties of neurons, the establishment and maintenance of the resting membrane potential, the electrical events surrounding the synaptic potentials and the action potential, the role of synaptic potentials in neural integration. The molecular structures of ionotropic and metabotropic receptors. Section 2: The functional differences between ionotropic and metabotropic receptors, tyrosine receptor kinases and steroid receptors; interactions between metabotropic receptors and the different types of G proteins and adenylate cyclase. Involvement of G proteins and adenylate cyclase in signal transduction and the role of transcription factors; calcium homeostasis Section 3: Operation of the immune system in the brain. Viral diseases of the CNS. Autoimmunity and hypersensitivity within the nervous system. Multiple sclerosis. Research methods in neuro-immunology. They will also be able to critically appraise the scientific literature relating to the above topics and to present their findings orally and as a presentation.

Research Dissertation - Neuroscience (40 credits) (Core Module)
This module is one of 3 research modules that provide opportunities for students to work on a research project of their own choice for 18-20 weeks (or the equivalent in part-time study), rather than simply absorbing results obtained by others and reported in the literature. Using knowledge gained from the taught modules and from their literature review, students first aim to generate testable hypotheses and then, using appropriate laboratory techniques, to obtain empirical data which are then critically evaluated in a discussion that leads to conclusions that either support or refute their hypotheses. The module aims to provide the student with the knowledge and skills to write a concise research report that is based on the more extensive descriptions of the methods, and the data and analyses sections that are recorded in the laboratory notebook (module 5). The report is a formal summary and discussion of the student's project work that is written in the style of a scientific paper, typically beginning with an Introduction, followed by a Materials and Methods section, a Results section, and finishing with a Discussion section and bibliography. Successful students will have attained a level of achievement appropriate to students wishing to undertake research work, or further post-graduate training, within the subject areas of the programme. On completion of this module, they will have a detailed knowledge of several neuroscience analytical techniques and will be able to contribute to and conduct a supervised research project and work as part of a research team, an essential feature of current research. The students will have learnt how to review the published literature, so that they are able to construct a reasonably complete picture.of what has been done in order to develop testable hypotheses and are then able to select the most salient parts of the literature to present in their report as background to their project, i.e., that which is most pertinent to the specific issues and questions posed by their research. The students will have learnt how to write a concise Methods section that only contains the protocols that were used to obtain the data presented in the Results section and is sufficient to support the interpretation of the data. Similarly, they will have learnt how to extract those results and analyses from the laboratory notebook (module 5) that are relevant to the arguments made in the Discussion section. After completing the Discussion, students will know how to bring together their results and, with reference to results previously published data and presented in the Introduction, how they answer the hypotheses and advance knowledge of the subject. They should also be able to discuss the significance of their findings and highlight possible areas for future research.

Duration
One year FT, two years PT, September to September.