Another Day, Another Neuron The lights are low. Electronic equipment hums. A loud speaker pops andcrackles. Green lights flash across a monitor as a recording tape rolls.An electrode is lowered. Ah...another day studying the brain . Not allscientists who study the brain and the rest of the nervous system(neuroscientists) work in these conditions...some work in the jungles ofthe Amazon looking for new plants that may hold the cure for neurologicaldisorders; others work in the clinics of medical centers helping peoplestricken with neurological disease; still others work in laboratoriesexamining microscopic sections of the brain or the studying the behaviorof man and animals. So what does it take to study that 1.4 kilogram (3 pound) mass of tissuein our heads we call the brain? What does a neuroscientist actually do? Can the part of our anatomy that makes us who we are really be studied? To Become a Neuroscientist When you ask a child, "What do you want to be when you grow up",many will answer, "I want to be a Teacher" or "I want to be a Fireman" or"I want to be a Pilot" - I doubt any will say "I want to be aNeuroscientist". Yet many people do pursue careers studying the nervoussystem. In fact, the Society forNeuroscience, an international organization of scientists who studythe nervous system, has over 25,000 members! To start on the road to becoming a neuroscientist - any scientist for thatmatter - first and most importantly, you must get an education. Studyhard in school and go to college. Once in college, you do not need totake neuroscience classes immediately. Shop around - take classes in avariety of departments and follow your interests. Neuroscientists comefrom many different disciplines including psychology, zoology, physics,anthropology, biology, chemistry, physiology, and philosophy. A diverseeducational background will provide the most important skill of all: howto ask questions. As an undergraduate, you may have a chance to test thewaters of research by working in a neuroscience lab. Ask around -neuroscientists are always looking for cheap labor. You could even make alittle money. As a volunteer research subject, you could also make alittle money. Just strap on the electrodes and ...Don't worry - allexperiments, even those on students, MUST be approved by a universityhuman subjects committee to determine that they are safe.

After finishing at the university with your Bachelor of Science orBachelor of Arts degree, you are now ready for the next step - graduateschool or medical school or dental school. Some people go to graduateschool for their Ph.D. and a health profession school like medical,dental or nursing school. You have a wide range of departments from whichto select your area of study. Many universities have separate neurosciencedepartments, but psychology, physiology, pharmacology, and biologydepartment also offer coursework and laboratoriesthat study the nervous system. Do you want to study how drugs affectthe brain? Why do we sleep? What causes and what are the treatments forParkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, schizophrenia? Whatabout pain, memory, stress, emotion, consciousness? The list is endless.It is important that you pick a graduate program with people who are doingwhat you want to do. Nevertheless, it is common for students who arepursuing one area of neuroscience to become interested in another area andswitch labs. As long as you use some tact and common courtesies with youradvisor, changing labs should not be a problem.

Many graduate schools will assist you financially with stipends in theform of research and teaching assistantships. Research assistantstypically perform experiments in a laboratory under the guidance of asenior researchers. Teaching assistants help instructors with classroomduties such as grading papers, leading discussion sections and evenlecturing students. These are not high paying positions, but they arewonderful training ground for the future.

So you have your Ph.D.and/or M.D. and D.D.S.? Now what? Many peoplefurther their training with a "postdoctoral" fellowship. A "post-doc" goes to a laboratory where he or she can learn new techniques or explore anew area of neuroscience. Your time as a post-doc is free from theworries of grant writing and teaching...you are in the lab to do research. After your post-doctoral fellowship, it is time to get a "real job". Hereare just some places that offer employment for neuroscientists:

1. Government (for example, in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health) - These positionsusually do not involve traditional teaching responsibilities.

2. University (as a researcher or teacher) - At the university it issometimes difficult to balance research and teaching duties. However, theuniversity environment, surrounded by students interested in learning, isexciting.

3. Industry (for example in biotechnology, pharmaceutical or medicalinstruments companies, including Genentech, Inc.) - Often paying higher salariesthan government or university jobs, private industry offers the chance toresearch and develop new products for the marketplace without the pressureof teaching responsibilities.

4. Hospital orMedical Center (as a clinician and/or researcher) - Working in amedical center is an ideal place to study neurological disorders inpatients.

Brains from several different species
(Image courtesy of the Mammalian Brain Collection at the University of Wisconsin,
Michigan State University and NationalMuseum of Health and Medicine)

While employment opportunities in some major cities are sparse, there arejobs for neuroscientists - you just have to know where to look.

"Neuroscientist" is actually a general word that describes someone whostudies the nervous system. Many neuroscientists "wear several hats". For example, a neurosurgeon may also have a Ph.D. in physiology. He orshe may work in the operating room but also have time to performexperiments. There are many career paths that neuroscientists can take:

Neuroanatomist	studies the structure (anatomy) of the nervoussystem
Neurobiologist	studies the biology of the nervoussystem
Neurochemist	studies the chemistry (for example,neurotransmitters) of the nervous system
Neurological Surgeon	a physician who performs surgery onthe nervous system
Neurologist	a physician who diagnoses and treatsdisorders of the nervous system
Neuropathologist	studies diseases of the nervoussystem
Neuropharmacologist	studies the action of drugs on thenervous system and/or behavior
Neuropsychologist	studies brain-behavior relationships(especially cognitive functions) in humans
Neurophysiologist	studies the physiology of the nervoussystem.
Physiological Psychologist	(also known as aPsychobiologist or Biological Psychologist) studies the neural basisof behavior
Psychiatrist	a physician who diagnoses and treats mentaldisorders
Psychophysicist	studies the relationships betweenenvironmental stimuli (for example, light, sound, or heat) and the resulting sensations and perceptions that they produce

A Day in the Life of a Neuroscientist

You have finished your training, you have a nice job. What does aneuroscientist really do? Like most professions, the job of aneuroscientist requires a multitude of talents. In addition to performingexperiments in their area of expertise, neuroscientists must be:

1. writers (to publish manuscripts and write grant applications)
   

2. accountants (to balance laboratory expenses)
   

3. fund raisers (to support the laboratory financially)
   

4. electricians, carpenters and plumbers (to repair minor problems withequipment or build new instruments)
   

5. teachers (to lecture large audiences and classes or talk one-on-onewith students)
   

6. travel agents (to get to meetings around the country and world)
   

7. artists (to create graphics and illustrations of results fromexperiments)
   

8. photographers (to document your work and prepare manuscripts)
   

9. counselors (to advise students)
   

10. editors (to critique their own work and that of others)
    

Neuroscientists in charge of their own labs are also head custodian andchief bottle washers.

Challenges for the Future

Because of many technologicaladvances, neuroscience has made great strides in recent years. Thereis the patch clamp to listento ion channels; the electron microscope to see inside neurons; singleunit techniques to record electrical activity from inside and outside ofindividual neurons; positron emissiontomography to study brain function; magnetic resonanceimaging to see inside the living brain. Yet even with all theseinventions, there is still so much to learn about the brain and the restof the nervous system. The next century holds many exciting challengesfor current and future neuroscientists. Here are only a few of thepossible questions that face neuroscientists in laboratories and clinicsaround the world:

(Image courtesy of Dr. Robert C. Coghill)

What are the methods for early detection of neurologicaldisorders such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease and formental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression? What are thecauses of these illnesses? What are the cures? How can we help nerves regenerate? Can we cure spinal cord injuries? Can we transplant or replace parts of the brain? What causes chronicpain? What is the best way to treat pain? How can we tap into ourendogenous pain inhibitory system? What are the mechanisms of addiction? Are there better ways to treataddictions? How are memories formed, stored and lost? What are better ways to image the living brain? What is the neurological basis of emotions such as anger, happinessand sadness? What are the differences in the brains of men and women and what do these differences mean? How does experience and learning affect the brain and how can we usethis information to improve our daily lives? What are the neurological mechanisms of "alternative medicine"treatments such as acupuncture, herbal therapy and hypnosis and how can these methods be used to treat nervous system disorders? Why do we sleep and how can we shift our internal body clocks? What is consciousness?

Neuroscientists are studying these and many other questions about the brain right now. With increased effort, the answers to thesequestions are in the near future. Perhaps you would like to help?

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Exploring theNervous System

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