Help deciding which Neuroscience field for M.S.

[Frank Hardy]

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Hi

I was wondering what branch of neurosci. would be best for someone trying to do a masters.

Molecular/ Cellular, Cognitive/Behavioral, Neural Networks, Clinical/Psychiatric disorders, brain mapping?

I've only done bench research and don't have a psych nor computer science nor physics background so would it be prudent to stick to just stick to neurobiology? I wanted to use the M.S. to explore the other fields but since I don't have the relevant coursework would it be wise to rotate in those labs or would I just be wasting time? Of course the goal is to find what I like for my PhD but more importantly have a good thesis project. I can only rotate in 3 labs so I have to choose wisely. Thanks!

 

[Frank Hardy]

28 views. Bumping for anyone who didn't read this and can give advice. Especially those involved in neuroscience research.

 

[Neuronix]

Dunno what to say here. In my research I have had limited experience in all of those areas except cognitive/behavioral, and which to persue is kind of up to you. I'm not sure there's one path that is easier/better/whatever. As is often the case, it's up to too many factors to make this a clear cut decision. Go by your interest. This is why you have 3 rotations! Try things! See if you think it would be a waste of your time to go do, say, fMRI if you don't have any background in it.

 

[magwi11]

This may sound all warm and fuzzy, but I think that your best bet is to go with labs that are doing the work that you find most interesting, and use that interest as a motivation to learn things that are useful (and therefore not waste time.)

If there is a lab that you think you would like to work with, talk to the PI and make sure that he/she is comfortable with the level of experience you have. While some places will be not at all interested in teaching you the basics if you don't have them under your belt coming in, other labs might be thrilled to have someone interested and be willing to take the time to give you the toolkit that you need.

Look over the options available, look at the coursework required if it differs for each focus in your program, and decide which appeals to you. You'll get far better answers on what might be a good use of your time from the PIs themselves than from people who don't know you or your program. As long as you're being productive and expanding your knowledge and skill set, I don't think that you'll be wasting time.

 

[NeuroFP]

I would personally say to do some research in each of those sub-topics of neural science. If you can, try to see which holds the greatest potential for success for one holding an M.S.

I would then try to shoot for that area. They all are neural science, after all, even though they do hold drastic differences at some point. However, once you get settled in with a solid career, it wouldn't be uncommon to switch around.
For example, I know of people that acquired a a B.S. in chemistry, worked in the pharmaceutical industry for a bit, then decided that he wanted to specialize in something else. The company that he worked for paid for his then higher education, and he was able to do what he wanted.


Best of luck!

 

[Frank Hardy]

Thanks for the advice everyone. 😍