The program of study for the PhD degree includes the equivalent of a minimum of sixteen semester courses (64 credits) at the graduate level, of which half may be satisfied by the MA degree or its equivalent and half of which must come from the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and other graduate course offerings at the School of Medicine (including GMS BN 991, 92 Research in Behavioral Neuroscience). Candidates with a master's degree or its equivalent in psychology are required to complete the equivalent of a minimum of eight graduate-level semester courses (32 credits). If a student's background requires more than the minimum of eight courses, the student may transfer the number of courses corresponding to that required in excess of the eight. Normally no more than four courses may be taken concurrently, and students register for at least one course each semester until completion of all departmental course requirements unless granted an authorized leave of absence. Specific course requirements are determined on an individual basis by the student's faculty advisor with the approval of the Behavioral Neuroscience Doctoral Committee administering the program (see under "Administration and Faculty").

In addition to the general requirements of the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences, each candidate must fulfill the minimum requirements corresponding to the major area of specialization: GMS BN 775, 6 Human Neuropsychology I and II; GMS BN 796 Neuropsychological Assessment; GMS BN 778 Basic Neurosciences; statistics; and GMS BN 991, 92 Research in Behavioral Neuroscience.

The student, working with an advisor, develops a plan of coursework tailored to the student's background experience and ultimate career goals. The intent of the course requirements is to provide students with a firm foundation in basic principles and methods of experimental neuropsychology. Students also display in-depth preparation (see under "Qualifying Examination") in at least five areas, of which the following are examples: language disorders; disorders of purposeful movement; pathology of learning and memory; dementias; visuospatial and other perceptual problems; affective disorders; developmental disorders; neuropsychology of alcohol abuse and alcoholism; neuropharmacology; and behavioral pharmacology.

The student, working with an advisor, must design a plan that meets these course requirements. The curriculum plan is subject to the approval of the Behavioral Neuroscience Doctoral Committee.

The program is not, by itself, designed to meet requirements for certification as to clinical competence in psychology nor in any discipline having a certification procedure, or requiring licensing. However, it accepts students enrolled elsewhere in clinical programs to take some or all of the offerings.

Qualifying Examination

As one of the requirements for admission to degree candidacy, the student, upon nearing completion of coursework, must satisfactorily pass a written and an oral examination demonstrating proficiency in basic principles and methods of human experimental neuropsychology and in five areas such as those listed above. The examination is prepared by five faculty members (each representing one of the five required areas). At least two of the faculty giving questions in the qualifying examination must be from the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences. Both parts of the qualifying examination must be completed no later than a student's third year in the Program.

The Dissertation Proposal Before embarking on his/her dissertation research (usually in the third year), the student must develop a dissertation proposal outlining clearly and distinctly the nature of the research to be undertaken. The dissertation proposal should include a background and introduction, brief review of the pertinent literature, specific aims, methods of procedure, and an assessment of the importance of the research when completed.

The student proposes a principal dissertation advisor and may suggest possible readers for the dissertation (the principal dissertation advisor may be the same or different from the student's academic advisor). The dissertation proposal is reviewed by the Behavioral Neuroscience Doctoral Committee, and an oral defense of the proposal is required. When the proposed research involves human participants, the proposal also is submitted to the Institutional Review Boards of all cooperating institutions for their approval. The principal advisor and two (or more) readers become the student's dissertation committee.

The curriculum for the doctoral program consists mainly of existing courses in neuropsychology within the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences. These courses are: BN 775 Human Neuropsychology Seminar I; BN 776 Human Neuropsychology Seminar II; BN 796 Neuropsychological Assessment; BN 793 Neuropsychology of Language;BN 794 Brain Asymmetry: Functionaland Structural Differences Between Hemispheres; BN 795 Neuropsychology of Perception and Memory; BN 798 Functional Neuroanatomy in Neuropsychology; BN 821 Seminar in Neuroimaging; BN 891 Case Studies in Neuropsychology (Sections A, B, and C); BN 893 Child Clinical Neuropsychology; BN 778 (and 779) Basic Neurosciences (and Beginning Basic Neurosciences); and BN 780 Behavioral and Biological Aspects of Stress and Trauma.

The first three courses listed above are required for all incoming students in the program. Another course, BN 778 Basic Neurosciences, is required for incoming PhD students.

An important feature of the program is a research apprenticeship with a core faculty member, and course credits are offered as Research in Behavioral Neuroscience. This arrangement is intended as preparation for independent research careers. Students also have the opportunity to assist resident and staff neurologists/psychiatrists in providing consultative services, to participate in daily and grand rounds, and to attend didactic seminars and hospital lectures at Boston University School of Medicine and the Boston and Bedford VA Medical Centers.

With permission of the major advisor and/or program director, other graduate-level courses from the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences may be selected for credit in the proposed doctoral program, as well as courses offered in the Graduate School (e.g., the Departments of Mathematics, Psychology, and Cognitive and Neural Systems) and in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Courses

GMS BN 775 Human Neuropsychology I
Prereq: consent of instructor. Relationship of the field of neuropsychology to other medical and scientific disciplines. Includes electrical activity of the brain, the study of consciousness and emotions, cerebral dominance, and the pathologies of language. Oscar-Berman, staff. 1st sem.

The individuals with overall responsibility for the program are Dr. Marlene Oscar Berman, Director of the Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Division of Psychiatry; Dr. Harold Goodglass, Associate Director of the Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center; Dr. Edith Kaplan, Boston Neuropsychological Foundation; Dr. Martin Albert, Director of the Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center.

All core faculty hold appointments in the Medical School of Boston University, and many are senior research or clinical staff members of the psychology, neurology, psychiatry, or research services of the Boston or Bedford VA Medical Centers: Drs. Albert, Berman, Cermak, Ciraulo, Durso, Fein, Feldman, Friedler, Galler, Goodglass, Helm-Estabrooks, Howes, Kaplan, Kornetsky, Naeser, Prather, Verfaellie, and White.

The program is not designed to meet requirements for accreditation as to clinical competence in psychology nor in any discipline which has a certification procedure. It does, however, accept students in the MD/PhD program at Boston University School of Medicine, or other students enrolled elsewhere in related programs (including the Master of Medical Sciences Program), to take some or all of the offerings. Boston University School of Medicine is an accredited institution. Behavioral Neuroscience is a degree-granting program having the same representation as other PhD-granting Departments in the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences.

Marlene Oscar Berman PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Neurology, and Director, PhD Program in Behavioral Neuroscience

Laird Cermak PhD, Professor of Neurology (Neuropsychology)

Domenic A. Ciraulo MD, Professor and Chairman, Division of Psychiatry

Raymon Durso MD, Associate Professor of Neurology

Deborah Fein PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Robert G. Feldman MD, Professor of Neurology

Gladys Friedler PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Professor of Pharmacology

Janina R. Galler MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Public Health

Harold Goodglass PhD, Professor of Neurology (Neuropsychology)

Nancy Helm-Estabrooks ScD, Professor of Neurology

Davis H. Howes PhD, Professor of Neurology

Edith Kaplan PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Terence Keane PhD, Professor and Vice-Chairman, Division of Psychiatry

Conan Kornetsky PhD, Professor of Pharmacology, Professor of Psychiatry

Margaret Naeser PhD, Associate Research Professor of Neurology

Penny Prather PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry

Louis Vachon MD, Professor of Psychiatry

Mieke H. Verfaellie PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology (Neuropsychology)

Roberta F. White PhD, Professor of Neurology (Neuropsychology)

Joint Faculty

Helen Barbas PhD, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Professor of Health Sciences

Jane Holmes Bernstein PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry (Harvard Medical School)

Michael P. Biber MD, Medical Director, Neurocare Inc., Brookline, MA; Clinical Instructor in Neurology (Harvard Medical School)

Paul Black MD, Professor Emeritus (Microbiology & Medicine)

Gene Blatt PhD, Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology

Cynthia Chase PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics

Lisa Tabor Connor PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Subimal Datta PhD, Associate Research Professor of Psychiatry

Helen Denison PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology)

Robert Ferrante PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Pathology, and Psychiatry

Richard Fine PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Neurology

Bernard H. Fox PhD, Professor of Psychiatry

David Gansler PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Behavioral Neuroscience)

Gail S. Hachanndel PhD, Visiting Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Peter Hayashi PhD, Instructor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School

J. Stephen Heisel MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Gregor Jones PhD, Assistant Professor of Physiology

Richard F. Kaplan PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Neurology (Neuropsychology)

Marcel Kinsbourne MD, Adjunct Professor of Neurology

Francesca LaVecchia PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Charles K. Levy PhD, Professor Emeritus (Biology) (College of Arts and Sciences)

Elinor M. Levy PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology

Simon Levy PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology

Jacqueline Liederman PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology (College of Arts and Sciences)

Jenifer LuebkePhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Assistant Professor (Research) of Anatomy and Microbiology

Raymond Maciewicz MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology (Tufts Medical School)

Alan Mandell MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry

Neal F. McGrath PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine

Barbara A. Morse PhD, Assistant Research Professor of Psychiatry

Mark B. Moss PhD, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology

Marjorie Nicholas MS, Research Associate in Neurology

Loraine Obler PhD, Associate Research Professor of Neurology

Paul O'Bryan PhD, Associate Professor of Physiology

Clare O'Callaghan RN, EdD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, and Associate Clinical Professor of Nursing

Margaret O'Connor PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology

Merle M. Orren PhD, Research Instructor of Psychiatry (Neuropsychology) and Neurology

Deepak N. Pandya MD, Professor of Neurology, Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology

Walter E. Penk PhD, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology)

Alan Peters PhD, Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology

Richard C. Pillard MD, Professor of Psychiatry

Whitney Powers PhD, Professor Emeritus of Anatomy, Neurobiology, and Health Sciences (Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences)

Douglas L. Rosene PhD, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology

Daniel S. Sax MD, Professor of Neurology, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience

Larry Seidman PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology); Associate Professor of Psychology (Harvard Medical School)

Paul Spiers PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Neurology

Robert A. Stern PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience; Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Clinical Neurosciences (Brown University School of Medicine)

Joseph Tecce PhD, Professor of Psychology (Boston College)

John Tonkiss PhD, Associate Research Professor of Psychiatry (Psychobiology)

Lucia M. Vaina PhD, Research Professor of Neurology; Professor of Biomedical Sciences (Boston University)

Nagagopal Venna MD, Associate Professor of Neurology

Ladislav Volicer MD, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry, and Assistant Professor of Medicine

Jessica Wolfe PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry