Training Program in the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application requests support for selected students enrolled in a multidisciplinary predoctoral training program, "Neurobiology of Learning and Memory," administered by MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. The program trains students to conduct research on how information is stored by the brain to modify behavior. The 22 training faculty have either demonstrated excellence in neuroscience education or show exceptional promise, and their research spans the multiple levels of analysis required to understand the neurobiology of learning and memory. To bridge these levels of analysis - ranging from the molecular architecture of synapses to the systems in the human brain required for memory consolidation - the training faculty include those with expertise in neural computation and theory. All faculty members have appointments in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and most are additionally affiliated with either The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory or the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. Learning and memory has emerged as a major unifying theme in neuroscience at MIT, one that is particularly amenable to the cross-disciplinary application of innovative technology, such as genetic manipulations and brain imaging techniques. Trainees are expected to have strong backgrounds in neuroscience, and in the foundations of neuroscience: biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology. Candidates for appointment to one of the funded slots will be chosen by the faculty committee constituted for the purpose of overseeing this program and will be evaluated on the basis of interviews, talent for research as demonstrated by past performance, letters of recommendation, grades, and GRE scores. Students admitted to the program will fulfill the requirements for a Ph.D. in neuroscience at MIT. They are required to take a series of core courses to provide a strong foundation in molecular, cellular, and systems neuroscience and statistics, and then to take advanced courses focused on learning and memory. Trainees will complete up to three rotations in the laboratories of program faculty to ensure exposure to the breadth of approaches to learning and memory. Students will receive additional training in the critical assessment of scientific literature, presenting research findings in seminars, ethical conduct of science, teaching neuroscience, and preparing research grant applications. Understanding how experience modifies the brain is essential for understanding the effects of the environment on brain development, recovery of function after brain injury and stroke, the mechanisms of addiction, and the effects of age and disease on memory. To solve these problems, the next generation of neuroscientists will require the broad and interdisciplinary training our program is designed to provide. Funds are requested for five years to support six trainees.