Neuroscience Major

Requirements for the Major in Neuroscience

1. Neuroscience majors are required to take the following basic science courses.
   1. BIOL 040 PO  and BIOL 041C PO  
   2. CHEM 001A PO , CHEM 001B PO  or CHEM 051 PO  
   3. MATH 030 PO  or MATH 031 PO , or completion of AP Calculus AB or BC with a score of 4 or 5, or IB Calculus with a score of 6 or 7.
   4. MATH 058 PO  or an equivalent statistics course in a mathematics or biology department at the Claremont Colleges. Students with AP Statistics and scores of 4 or 5 are advised to take MATH 150 PO .
   5. PSYC 051 PO  
2. Majors are required to take NEUR101 PO - Introduction to Neuroscience with Laboratory . This is ordinarily taken in the sophomore year.
3. Majors must select two additional basic science courses from the list below in consultation with a faculty advisor in the Neuroscience Department. No more than one course can be from the same department (with the exception of chemistry) without approval from the chair of the Neuroscience Department.
   1. BIOL041E PO - Intro Ecological and Evolutionary Biology with Laboratory ; BIOL140 PO - Animal Physiology with Laboratory ; BIOL125 PO - Animal Behavior with Laboratory ; BIOL163 PO - Advanced Cell Biology with Laboratory ; BIOL169 PO - Developmental Biology with Laboratory .
   2. CHEM 110A PO , CHEM110B PO - Organic Chemistry with Laboratory ; CHEM115 PO - Biochemistry with Laboratory ; CHEM174 PO - Bio-Organic Chemistry  and CHEM175 PO - Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry  
   3. CSCI051G PO - Introduction to Computer Science in Grace with Laboratory  , or CSCI051J PO - Intro to Computer Science in Java with Laboratory  , or CSCI051P PO - Introduction to Computer Science in Python with Laboratory , or CSCI052 PO - Fundamentals of Computer Science .
   4. MATH031 PO - Calculus II ; MATH032 PO - Calculus III .
   5. PHYS 041 PO - General Physics with Laboratory , PHYS042 PO - General Physics with Laboratory .  
   6. PSYC108 PO - Child Development ; PSYC131 PO - Psychological Disorders ; PSYC160 PO - Cognitive Psychology with Lab ; PSYC162 PO - Memory and Language with Lab .
4. Majors must take a core course from each of the following three areas of neuroscience.
   1. Cell and Molecular Neuroscience
      1. NEUR168 PO - Genes and Behavior with Laboratory  
      2. NEUR178 PO - Neurobiology with Laboratory  
   2. Comparative Systems Neuroscience
      1. NEUR102 PO - Neuroethology: Mechanisms of Behavior with Laboratory  
      2. NEUR130 PO - Vertebrate Sensory Systems with Laboratory  
   3. Human Neuroscience
      1. NEUR143 PO - The Human Brain: From Cells to Behavior with Laboratory  
      2. NEUR153 PO - Neuroimaging  
5. Majors must select one additional course from the following list of neuroscience electives. (Neuroscience core courses can also be used to satisfy the neuroscience elective requirement.)
   1. BIOL039L KS - Analyses of Human Motor Skills  
   2. CSCI152 HM - Neural Networks  
   3. NEUR103 PO - Neuropharmacology  
   4. BIOL 133L KS - Intro to Mathematical Physiology  
   5. PSYC 140 PO - The Social Brain  
6. Majors are required to complete the following senior activities.
   1. NEUR 190 PO , Senior seminar in the fall of their senior year
   2. NEUR 191 PO  (a one-semester library thesis completed in the fall or spring semester), or NEUR 192 PO  (s a project-based senior exercise) or NEUR 194A PO , NEUR 194B PO  (a two-semester experimental thesis taken in both semesters).

All courses counting toward the major must be taken for a letter grade. With prior approval from the department chair, students may receive credit toward their major for coursework completed at neighboring Claremont Colleges. Students planning on attending graduate school in neuroscience should consult with an advisor in neuroscience regarding course selection. Pomona College offers a specialized study abroad program in neuroscience at University College London. In consultation with a neuroscience faculty member at Pomona, neuroscience majors can choose a curriculum at the UCL Study Abroad Program in which they receive up to two credits toward the major, including one for a core course.

Please refer to the Study Abroad Website for the program description and information on eligibility.