Master of Science Program in Applied
Cognition and Neuroscience
Professors: Hervé Abdi, Peter
Assmann, James C. Bartlett, W. Jay Dowling, George M. Gerken (emeritus),
Richard M. Golden, Susan W. Jerger, William F. Katz, Aage R. Møller, Alice O’Toole
Associate Professors: Marco Atzori, Lawrence J. Cauller, Michael
Kilgard, Lucien T. Thompson
Assistant Professors: Daniel Krawczyk, Christa McIntyre
Distinguished Scholar in Residence: James Jerger
The Master
of Science in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience (ACN) program is an applied
multidisciplinary program which incorporates and integrates methodologies from
such diverse fields as psychology, neuroscience, and computer science. The Cognition and Neuroscience specialization
area provides a flexible multidisciplinary curriculum for studying the mind
and brain which is designed to be adaptable to the individual student’s
interests. Students enrolling in the Cognition and Neuroscience specialization
area with backgrounds in psychology and neuroscience will have the opportunity
to gain the diverse skills needed to collect and interpret behavioral and
neurophysiological data. The Computational
Modeling/Intelligent Systems specialization area provides advanced training
applicable to developing mathematical and computer simulation models of the
brain and behavior as well as the development of artificially intelligent
systems. The Human Computer Interaction specialization area provides excellent
preparation for work in areas involving human computer interactions, such as
usability engineering issues associated with the design and evaluation of
user-friendly web-based systems. The Neurological
Diagnosis and Monitoring specialization area provides advanced training and
preparation for using functional brain imaging methodologies such as: EEG,
SPECT, PET, and fMRI for both clinical and experimental investigations. All
four specialization areas provide excellent preparation for doctoral work in
the Cognition and Neuroscience area as well as medical school.
The Master of Science in Applied Cognition
and Neuroscience (ACN) program is a multidisciplinary program which should be
of interest to business professionals interested in retraining or continuing
education and are currently working full-time in a professional-level job.
Business professionals in different fields should pursue the appropriate
‘specialization area’ within the ACN degree program. Many courses in the ACN
program are offered periodically as evening courses which meet either once or
twice a week. A few representative career opportunities in the Applied
Cognition and Neuroscience Area are listed as follows.
•
Software
development professionals, whose focus is the development of web sites, can
acquire advanced training in the design and evaluation of web-site
effectiveness using advanced behavioral science methodologies through the Human-Computer
Interaction specialization area.
•
Psychological
counselors and Education professionals (e.g., high school science teachers,
adult literacy educators) will greatly benefit from the basic neuroscience and
psychological science courses offered in the Cognition and Neuroscience
specialization area.
•
Medical
Health professionals (e.g., Electroneurodiagnostic Technologists, MRI
Technicians. Radiologists) who are working in the area of brain imaging
technology will find the Neurological Diagnosis and Monitoring
specialization area relevant for improving their knowledge and
understanding of functional brain imaging technologies such as: EEG, SPECT,
PET, and fMRI.
•
Software
development professionals interested in the area of the implementation of
complex mathematical algorithms in software. Such mathematical algorithms are
now widely embedded in a variety of software programs for the purposes of
providing "intelligent assistance" to the end-user.
Software development professionals interested in continuing education in the
area of artificial intelligence and artificial neural network modeling should
consider the Intelligent Systems specialization area in the ACN program.
In addition to
numerous individual faculty research labs, the Applied Cognition and
Neuroscience Program utilizes several facilities which
are shared among faculty and graduate students in the School of Behavioral and
Brain Sciences. The Computational Systems Laboratory consists of a network of
workstations which are used for computationally intensive models of perceptual,
cognitive, and neural processes as well as high-volume data analyses. The
Computational Systems Laboratory can be accessed remotely by graduate students
and faculty members. The Neuroscience Laboratory facilities are located in
Green Hall and the Multipurpose Building at the Richardson campus as well. The
Callier Center for Communication Disorders, located adjacent to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, provides access to
brain imaging laboratories and speech, hearing, and language laboratories.
The
University’s general admission requirements are discussed here.
Admission to
the Applied Cognition and Neuroscience Program is based on a review of the
applicant’s GPA, letters of recommendation, and narrative description of interests
and career goals. Both GRE math and verbal scores are required to be considered
for admission.
Students
with strong academic records, who are in the process of completing their
undergraduate degree at UTD, may be admitted as Fast-track Students. Fast-track
students may accelerate completion of
the degree requirements of the Master of Science Program in Applied Cognition
and Neuroscience at UTD by completing up to 12 credits of specified fast-track
graduate coursework at UTD as an undergraduate. Fast-track credit hours may be
used to fulfill requirements for the student’s undergraduate UTD degree as well
as satisfy course requirements for the masters’ degree in Applied Cognition and
Neuroscience. Applications to the Graduate Program in Applied Cognition and
Neuroscience can be submitted as soon as the student is an undergraduate at UTD
with no more than 45 credit hours remaining.
The
University’s general degree requirements are discussed here.
All students
in the program are required to regularly review their degree plans with their
program advisor. In all areas of specialization students complete 6 hours of
approved core courses, 6 hours of approved methods courses, 6 hours of approved
advanced elective courses, 12 hours of coursework in an approved specialization
area, and 6 hours of internship courses. A grade of "B" is the required passing
grade for coursework used to fulfill the core course and methods course
requirements of the degree. Coursework used to fulfill the advanced elective
requirement may be taken pass/fail. Internship coursework must be taken
pass/fail.
Select
two of the following approved core courses (6 hours).
ACN 6330 Cognitive Science I
ACN 6395 Cognitive Psychology
ACN 6340 Cellular Neuroscience
ACN 6344 Functional Human Neuroanatomy
ACN 6346 Systems Neuroscience
Select at least one approved quantitative methods course approved by the
Program Head or from the following approved list of quantitative methods
courses (3 hours).
ACN 6312 Research Methods in Behavioral and Brain Sciences ∼ Part I
ACN 6313 Research Methods in Behavioral and Brain Sciences ∼ Part II
ACN 6314 Research Methods
in Behavioral and Brain Sciences ∼ Part III
ACN 6351 Quantitative Methods in Neuroscience
ACN 6348 Neural Net Mathematics
ACN 6347 Intelligent Systems Analysis
ACN 6349 Intelligent Systems Design
Select at least one methods course (3 hours).
Select two advanced
elective courses: These
courses may be chosen from either the Graduate Program in Human Development and
Communication Sciences or the Applied Cognition and Neuroscience Program or the
courses may be chosen from outside the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
with approval from the ACN program head. Advanced elective courses may be taken
pass/fail or for a grade.
The
following four specialization areas have been approved for the Applied
Cognition and Neuroscience program but alternative specialization area
proposals may be submitted for consideration to the Applied Cognition and
Neuroscience program head.
Students
selecting this specialization area are approved to select any four courses from
the ACN program (i.e., courses with the prefix ACN) or the Cognition and
Neuroscience Area of the Graduate Program in Human Development and
Communication Sciences (i.e., courses with the prefix HCS).
Students
selecting this specialization area should take two of the following three
courses: ACN 6341 Human Computer Interactions I, ACN 6342 Human Computer
Interactions II, and ACN 6343 Human Computer Interactions Lab. Students
pursuing the behavioral sciences track
should additionally take two courses from the Cognition and Neuroscience
Specialization Area course selections. Students pursuing the user-interface development track should
take: CS 5343 Algorithm Analysis and Data Structures and CS 6354 Software
Engineering. Note that the prerequisites for CS5343 are: CS5303 Computer
Science I (or equivalent) and CS 5333 Discrete Structures. Students
specializing in the Human Computer Interactions area should regularly review
the Arts and Technology courses offered in the School of Arts and Humanities
which have the course prefix ATEC and discuss relevant course offerings with
the ACN Program Head.
Students
pursuing the computer simulation modeling
track should take four courses from the Cognition and Neuroscience
Specialization Area which include at least one of the following courses: ACN
7335 Computational Neuroscience, ACN 7367 Speech Perception Lab, ACN 6322
Computational Models of Language Understanding. Students pursuing the mathematical modeling track will satisfy
the advanced elective requirement in this specialization area by taking the
sequence: ACN 6346 Neural Net Mathematics, ACN 6347 Intelligent Systems
Analysis and ACN 6349 Intelligent Systems Design and one additional course from
the Cognition and Neuroscience Specialization Area course selection. Note that
STAT 5351, linear algebra, multivariable calculus, and ACN 5314 Cognitive and
Neural Modeling Lab are recommended prerequisites for: ACN 6346. The following
Computer Science and Electrical Engineering courses are pre-approved electives
for students specializing in the Intelligent Systems area who have the
appropriate prerequisite background in computer science and/or electrical
engineering: CS6320 (Natural Language Processing), CS 6321 (Discourse
Processing), CS6364 (Artificial Intelligence), CS6373 (Intelligent
Systems), CS6375 (Machine Learning),
CS6384 (Computer Vision), EE6362 (Speech Processing), EE6363 (Digital Image
Processing), EE6364 (Pattern Recognition), and EE 6365 (Adaptive Signal
Processing).
Students should take ACN 6344 Functional Human Neuroanatomy
and ACN 6346 Systems Neuroscience. Students should also choose at least 2 of
the following courses as specialization area electives: ACN 6310 Fundamentals
of Functional Brain Imaging, ACN 6373 Intraoperative Monitoring I, ACN 6374
Intraoperative Monitoring II, ACN 7315 Statistical Analysis of Brain Imaging
Data, ACN 7329 Functional Brain Imaging Practica, ACN 6372 Pathophysiology of
Disorders of the Nervous System, and ACN 7330 Advanced Functional Brain
Imaging.