floating brain

Exceptional opportunities

Neuroscience Graduate Program

The NSP at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is an interdisciplinary program of study and research leading to the doctoral degree.

We offer a rigorous yet flexible program designed to foster the growth of the student through research activities, close interactions with faculty, and exposure to top neuroscientists through our seminar series and attendance at professional meetings.

Neuroscience Program Events Calendar

Block Reference

Neuroscience News

Artificial Intelligence: Enabling More Sustainable Labs
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCETechnology Networks (with audio; Suffolk, England, May 6) — Jimeng Sun, a computer science professor at the U. of I., used training data from over 8,000 past trials to predict the outcome of more than 3,400 recent drug studies in a prediction model. “All this...
The surprising scientific benefits behind memory manipulation
Today we know that our brains re-write our memories each time we recall them, but what if we could control that process? We're exploring the science of memory manipulation, which could transform treatments for Alzheimer's, PTSD, and more. To answer our questions, KCBS Radio news anchor Steve Scott...
Researchers receive $2.7M NIH grant to investigate effects of phthalate exposure on neurodevelopment
...
Monitoring stress from the surface of the body 
"Today, my laboratory looks more like a scene from a sci-fi film than a psychology research space. Wires snake across tables, sensors lay carefully arranged on trays, and a bucket of ice water sits in the corner, quietly waiting its turn." Manuel Hernandez is an NSP faculty member and...
Can Doing Crosswords, Puzzles, and Other Games Really Help You Stay Sharp?
Engaging your brain can have benefits—but not all mental exercises are created equal.Can Brain Games Really Preserve Cognition?When it comes to your brain, there’s some truth to the saying “use it or lose it,” experts said. “Your brain is an organ, and if you’re not using all parts...
14 Million Honeybees Escape After a Truck Rolls Over in Washington State
From The New York Times: In the northwest corner of Washington State on Friday morning, the authorities issued a most unusual all-points bulletin, rather, an A.P.Bee.“250 million bees are now loose,” the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Department...
Block Reference
Photo Headshot of Allison Bell

Faculty Spotlight: The One Who Is Thinking about Natural Behavior and Interested in Individual Differences, Alison Bell

How would you describe your background? I’m an evolutionary biologist who is interested in behavior. I would say that I have always been interested in animals and animal behavior, but I didn’t really know you could study it in a scientific way until I went to college and I took my first animal behavior course as a freshman. I realized that what I was really interested in was thinking from an evolutionary point of view why animals do what they do. I’ve come to appreciate is that knowing something about how they do what they do is important to understanding why.

Block Reference
Dr. Jake Carpenter-Thompson

Alumni Spotlight: Alumni Spotlight: Dr. Jake Carpenter-Thompson

Dr. Jake Carpenter-Thompson serves as the director of clinical research at the Kutcher Clinic for Sports Neurology. He recently published research in conjunction with Dr. Jeffery Kutcher regarding the evaluation and management of sports-related concussions. He and his team are currently working on an assessment of technologies that claim to be able to diagnose a concussion. “When you look at previous research that’s been done, the quality is not there,” he said. “We’re applying a very rigorous clinical diagnosis of concussion, making sure that the way that these technologies are studied is...

Block Reference
Close-up of Baby's Ear

Recently Published: Hearing in Complex Environments: Auditory Gain Control, Attention, and Hearing Loss

Abstract Listening in noisy or complex sound environments is difficult for individuals with normal hearing and can be a debilitating impairment for those with hearing loss. Extracting meaningful information from a complex acoustic environment requires the ability to accurately encode specific sound features under highly variable listening conditions and segregate distinct sound streams from multiple overlapping sources. The auditory system employs a variety of mechanisms to achieve this auditory scene analysis. First, neurons across levels of the auditory system exhibit compensatory...

South Quad - McFarland Carillon Memorial Bell Tower

Land Acknowledgement

As a land-grant institution, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a responsibility to acknowledge the historical context in which it exists. We are currently on the lands of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Peankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Mesquaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw Nations. It is necessary for us to acknowledge these Native Nations and for us to work with them as we move forward as an institution with Native peoples at the core of our efforts.

More about the practice of land acknowledgements at the University of Illinois.