Neuroscience Foundations

Neuroanatomy and Systems Neuroscience Analysis

Required. Analyse the structural or functional neuroanatomy of a specific neural system using real neuroimaging data from OpenNeuro, Human Connectome Project, or Allen Brain Atlas (all free) — or a documented systems neuroscience PRISMA literature synthesis on a specific circuit. Reviewed by a neuroscientist who presents an unseen neuroimaging image and asks you to identify specific structures and the functional circuits connecting them. Neuroanatomy is the foundation before mechanism and experimental design.

Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Analysis

Elective. Analyse a specific cellular or molecular neuroscience mechanism: ion channel kinetics, action potential propagation, synaptic plasticity (LTP/LTD), or neurotransmitter system dynamics. Proof is either an analysis of real electrophysiological data from CRCNS.org or Allen Brain Observatory (both free), or a PRISMA literature synthesis on a specific cellular mechanism identifying gaps and methodological limitations. Reviewer presents an unseen electrophysiology trace and asks about the underlying cellular mechanism.

Cognitive Neuroscience Experimental Design

Elective. Design a complete cognitive neuroscience experiment: research question, experimental paradigm (blocked vs. event-related; stimulus presentation; trial structure), participant criteria with power analysis, neuroimaging methodology, analysis pipeline, and ethics considerations. A neuroscientist identifies ≥1 uncontrolled confound; the student's written response (methodological fix or argument that the confound doesn't threaten the primary hypothesis) is a required part of the proof. No equipment needed — the design is the artifact.

Neuroscience Systematic Literature Review

Elective. Systematic review of primary neuroscience literature on a named research question using PRISMA methodology: documented search strategy (PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar — all free with free access), inclusion/exclusion criteria with rationale, data extraction table, and synthesis identifying agreements, contradictions, and evidence gaps. Reviewed by a neuroscientist who challenges specific exclusion decisions and asks about the quality of evidence in a named included study.

Master Statistics for Data Analysis

Elective. Statistical methods for neuroscience research: multiple comparisons correction (Bonferroni, FDR), time-series analysis, GLM for fMRI data, and uncertainty quantification. This is a Tier 1 richMilestones outcome with 5 full milestones, already used in the data-science-credential and ai-ml-theory-ugpg paths. The same statistical foundation applies directly to neuroscience research design and neuroimaging analysis.

Free repository of openly shared neuroimaging datasets (fMRI, EEG, MEG, iEEG) in BIDS format, with thousands of datasets from published studies. Use for the neuroanatomy analysis step and the cognitive neuroscience experimental design step — datasets come with study descriptions that let you understand the paradigm while analysing the data. Each dataset is citable with a DOI.

Free access to high-resolution structural and functional MRI data from 1,200 healthy adults, with accompanying behavioural data. Use for the neuroanatomy systems analysis step — HCP data is among the highest-quality publicly available neuroimaging data and is widely used in published research. The ConnectomeDB portal provides download access after free registration.

Free electrophysiology and neuroimaging datasets from peer-reviewed studies, spanning extracellular recordings, calcium imaging, and EEG. Use for the cellular and molecular neuroscience step where you need real electrophysiological data to analyse. Each dataset is accompanied by the published paper it came from, so you can cross-reference your analysis with the published findings.

Free full-text access to millions of biomedical papers including neuroscience. Use for the systematic literature review step (PRISMA methodology) and for finding primary literature on the cellular mechanisms and neural systems in scope for your other steps. PubMed Central provides full text; PubMed covers the broader indexed literature with abstracts always free.