Training Program in the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

描述（由申请人提供）：本申请要求支持选定的学生参加多学科的博士前培训计划，“学习和记忆的神经生物学”，由麻省理工学院的大脑和认知科学系管理。该计划训练学生进行关于大脑如何存储信息以修改行为的研究。这22名培训教师要么在神经科学教育方面表现出卓越的表现，要么表现出非凡的前景，他们的研究跨越了理解学习和记忆的神经生物学所需的多层次分析。为了连接这些层次的分析--从突触的分子结构到记忆巩固所需的人脑系统--培训教师包括那些具有神经计算和理论专长的人。所有教职员工都在大脑和认知科学系任职，大多数人还隶属于皮考尔学习和记忆研究所或麻省理工学院麦戈文大脑研究所。学习和记忆已经成为麻省理工学院神经科学的一个主要统一主题，特别适合于创新技术的跨学科应用，如遗传操作和脑成像技术。受训者应具有强大的神经科学背景，以及神经科学的基础：生物学，化学，物理学和心理学。候选人任命的资助插槽之一将由教师委员会组成的目的是监督这个程序的选择，并将在面试的基础上进行评估，人才的研究，通过过去的表现，推荐信，成绩和GRE成绩证明。被录取的学生将满足博士学位的要求。在麻省理工学院的神经科学。他们需要采取一系列的核心课程，以提供在分子，细胞和系统神经科学和统计学的坚实基础，然后采取先进的课程集中在学习和记忆。学员将在项目教师的实验室完成多达三次轮换，以确保接触到学习和记忆方法的广度。学生将在科学文献的批判性评估，在研讨会上展示研究成果，科学道德行为，神经科学教学和准备研究资助申请方面接受额外的培训。了解经验如何改变大脑对于理解环境对大脑发育的影响、脑损伤和中风后功能的恢复、成瘾的机制以及年龄和疾病对记忆的影响至关重要。为了解决这些问题，下一代神经科学家将需要我们的计划旨在提供的广泛和跨学科的培训。要求提供五年的资金，以支助六名受训人员。

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.