Overview
Overview
Not exactly brain surgery…that comes later.
Description
Let's face it, this major is pretty rad. When you tell people you're majoring in neuroscience, they're going to be impressed. In fact, they may even be a little intimidated. They may just bow down to you in reverence, singing praises to that massive pulsing brain in your skull. Sure, they may be sarcastic, but why not just bask a little?
Feel free to joke about your plans to take over the world. We certainly do, and we don't even know an amygdala from a medulla oblongata. That's where you come in. Beyond basking and bragging, a neuroscience major gets to learn about how our brains work.
Neuroscience is a fairly new area of study, which means new and fascinating discoveries about the brain are being made all the time. Have you ever been captivated by stories of amnesia or lucid dreaming? A neuroscientist might study these phenomena and unlock the mysteries of why they occur.
Gaining insider knowledge about the power of all that grey matter between your ears might give you a permanent case of Keanu-face. But it also gives you some pretty relevant skills for the real world. People say that in college, what you really learn is how to think. A neuroscience major learns how to think about how we think. So not only are you gaining the skills to become a critical thinker, you're also understanding which parts of the brain are responsible for it. So meta.
Many neuroscience majors move on to postgraduate work to deepen their studies and conduct research. Neuroscientists can become doctors, surgeons, researchers, teachers—all fields that are very worthy of bragging rights. Even if you choose to enter a field that is unrelated to neuroscience, gaining all of those STEM skills will make you an attractive candidate for a wide variety of jobs. You just might not be able to brag as much.
Famous People who majored in Neuroscience
- Mayim Bialik, neuroscientist and actress on The Big Bang Theory
- Sybil Lockhart, author and creator of Literary Mama Magazine
- Dr. Kiki Sanford, host of This Week in Science
- Ze Frank, pioneer in vlogging and Internet entertainment
- Dr. Drake Ramoray, brain surgeon played by Joey Tribbiani played by Matt LeBlanc
Percentage of US students who major in Neuroscience:
0.016%
Stats obtained from this source.