The Ph.D. program in Cognition and Neuroscience offers a distinctive blending of research initiatives and doctoral study in neural processes underlying sensation, perception, memory and learning throughout the lifespan. Major research efforts within the program include animal-based studies of aging and memory, sensory system plasticity, and behavioral effects of reversible brain lesions, as well as human-based studies of pattern and face recognition, aging and memory, speech perception, music cognition and text comprehension. Computational modeling of perception and memory is another core strength, as are cortical event-related potential studies of basic processes of hearing and speech recognition, as well as human aging.
The Ph.D. program in Cognition and Neuroscience exists within the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, which also offers Ph.D. programs in Psychological Sciences and Communication Sciences and Disorders. All three programs share the objective of maintaining flexibility in curriculum and research inherent in interdisciplinarity. Faculty and students throughout the School participate in a range of scientific advances and technological innovations of an interdisciplinary character, and two research centers -- the Advanced Hearing Research Center and the Center for Brain Health -- both play an important supportive role in these efforts. Additionally, the two campuses of the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, also a component of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, provide model clinical and research programs accessible to doctoral students in Cognition and Neurosciences.
The facilities and resources available to the Cognition and Neuroscience are truly exceptional, including not only the Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, and Psychology laboratories on the UTD Richardson campus, but also laboratory and classroom space at the two campuses of the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, as well as a new building, now under construction, which will house the Center for Brain Health. Additional resources are available through cooperative programs with various departments at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The School’s faculty have generated $4.5 million in grant support in the last year, assuring a high level of research activity well into the future.
The Degree Path
The degree path to a Ph.D. in Cognition and Neuroscience includes 12 hours of basic course work. A yearlong proseminar acquaints students with the breadth of faculty research programs in the School. And a sequence of research methods courses introduces basic quantitative tools.
Moving in the direction of their specialization, students in Cognition and Neuroscience take a two-semester core sequence spanning the areas of Cognitive Science and Neuroscience, as well as two core courses in a minor area of study (Psychological Sciences or Communication Sciences and Disorders). The remaining graduate courses are advanced electives tailored to meet each student's needs and interests.
Active participation in research is required throughout the student's degree program, and the faculty is dedicated to guiding students in the development of research skills. The low student/faculty ratio facilitates this emphasis. Each student works closely with the faculty in completing an empirical research project and an integrated literature review during the first two years of the program, one of them due at the end of each year. In the third year the student is expected to advance to Ph.D. candidacy through the successful preparation and public defense of a dissertation research proposal. The dissertation consists of an independent and original research project conducted under faculty supervision. Successful public defense of the completed dissertation is the final step in attaining the Ph.D.
Resources for Studying Cognition and Neuroscience
Additional Resources: UT Dallas has an FDA-approved animal care facility, housing multiple species for neuroscience-related study. Modern laboratories are found in Green Hall and the Multipurpose Building on the Richardson campus, with state-of-the-art computers and a broad range of equipment for experiments with both human and animal subjects, and staff support for technical and clerical needs (UNIX workstations are available for modeling and advanced mathematical analysis of complex data sets. Behavioral and perceptual facilities support videography and audiography, as well as neuropsychological and advanced cognitive learning and memory testing). Neuroanatomical and Neurochemical facilities are available and widely used. Neurophysiological methods ranging from acute and chronic in vivo techniques to advanced in vivo slice recording techniques are used extensively.
Research Programs of the Cognition and Neuroscience Faculty
Human Perception and Memory
Encompasses all aspects of the cognitive processes by which we form mental representations of the world. Our program is particularly strong in the area of perception and memory for complex patterns of information in the environment, including faces, speech and language, music, and text. There is an emphasis on studying these domains via computational modeling.
Aging and Cognition
Tthe impact of aging on information processing has profound personal and societal consequences. Diverse effects of aging, ranging from isolated memory loss for specific items to global dementia, are studied using both psychological and neurobehavioral approaches. The School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences has unique clinical resources in the Callier Center, and close collaborative associations with the UT Southwestern Medical Center, aiding innovative approaches to the study of information processing and memory in late adulthood.
Artificial Neural Networks
A bstract mathematical models of brain structures and functions, referred to as "connectionist systems", "neurocomputers," or "parallel distributed processing models," are used to simulate computational processes in the brain, and the solutions can be compared with empirical data.
Cortical and Subcortical Connections
Fundamental paradigm shifts in the behavioral neurosciences indicate that reciprocal connectivity in cortical regions plays a key role in conscious sensation, and that subcortical processes are essential to attention. Anatomical, physiological, and neurochemical analyses of sensory events in the nervous system are used to build realistic models of neocortical neurons for use in large-scale simulations of brain function.
Plasticity and Memory The ability to reorganize and make associations among new stimuli is the hallmark of intelligent systems, and is an essential component of plasticity in the nervous system. Strengths in our program include the study of cortical and subcortical plasticity using state-of-the-art in vivo and in vitro recordings.
The research programs are supplemented by those in other areas of the doctoral program, where faculty are actively working on cognitive development, language development, and cognitive and developmental aspects of communication disorders. Students are encouraged to become involved in research on developmental and applied problems.
Need More Information?
To request more information on specific programs contact James C. Bartlett, Ph.D.
Professor, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Phone: (972) 883-2079
