Cognitive Neuroscience and Human Neuroimaging

Course description

This 12-month course is designed to provide you with in-depth training in the core aspects of cognitive neuroscience and human neuroimaging, enabling you to generate and interpret neurobiological data in order to draw conclusions from healthy and unhealthy brains.

We'll also train you in neuroimaging and neurophysiological data collection and analysis techniques, allowing you to investigate and understand the brain-behaviour interrelationship.

Throughout your course, our neuroscientists will introduce you to key investigative techniques which may include functional and structural MRI, EEG, neuropsychology, transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation. Once you have mastered the techniques you need, you will have opportunities to apply these throughout your course to test hypotheses in areas including attention, executive functioning, Alzheimer’s disease, autism and ADHD.

Over six months, you'll work on your research project in cognitive neuroscience with one of our world-leading experts. Your research topic could range from theoretical to basic and to more applied cognitive neuroscience. You may have the opportunity to collect and analyse real-life cognitive brain science data, using state-of-the-art equipment, before presenting your findings at our summer postgraduate students' conference. This project gives you the opportunity to put your new techniques in experimental neuroscience into practice, while exploring ideas at the cutting-edge of cognitive neuroscience. MSc research projects often form the basis of publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Example research projects

• The role of vascular damage in Alzheimer’s disease: Altering brain structure and cognitive function
• Neurovascular coupling in ageing
• Investigating the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on brain activity, neurovascular coupling and neuroimaging signals in an animal model
• Investigating the neuroanatomical correlates of depression and anxiety in Alzheimer’s disease: a voxel-based morphometry study.
• Neural activity correlates of working memory
• Examining plasticity of the visual cortex using high-frequency visual stimulation and EEG

Example past papers published, including student authors

• Brooke JM, James SS, Jiminez-Rodriguez A, Wilson SP (2022) Biological action at a distance: Correlated pattern formation in adjacent tessellation domains without communication. PLoS Computational Biology. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009963
• Wilson SP, James SJ, Whiteley DJ, Krubitzer LA (2019) Limit cycle dynamics can guide the evolution of gene regulatory networks towards point attractors. Scientific Reports 9: 16750. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-53251-w
• Cafferata, R. M. T., Hicks, B., & von Bastian, C. C. (2021). Effectiveness of cognitive stimulation for dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 147(5), 455–476.

If you have a passion for understanding the brain and behaviour, whether your background stems from biology, engineering, physics, mathematics, psychology or medicine, this interdisciplinary course has been designed to ensure that you'll gain in-depth knowledge of the fundamentals of neuroscience and research methods in cognitive neuroscience, ready for an exciting career in research or industry.

The University is home to the Neuroscience Institute which brings together internationally-recognised expertise in medicine, science and engineering to improve the lives of patients and families affected by neurological, sensory and developmental disorders.

Other courses in cognitive neuroscience

We offer MSc courses that cover the full breadth of cognitive neuroscience, from the biological basis to imaging and simulation, allowing you to discover the area that you’re most interested in:

• MSc Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience
• MSc Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the school/department.

Your career

With the valuable skills and knowledge that you’ll develop throughout your research training, including computational modelling, imaging, and analysis expertise, you’ll be well equipped for careers including:

• Roles within deep learning, machine learning or artificial intelligence
• Analysis and visualisation of data within hospitals, other healthcare providers or the pharmaceutical industry
• Pursuing a career in research, understanding major diseases like stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons and epilepsy within academia or governmental organisations.

If you choose to continue your research training, this course is great preparation for a PhD in areas including neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and brain interfaces, or to begin clinical training.

Learn more about where your psychology masters could take you here.

By choosing the School of Psychology for your postgraduate study, you'll join our global alumni network, where hundreds of our employed graduates are working across academia, healthcare, and related fields, and completing further study around the world. Explore our interactive map of graduate destinations: