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, Michael Kilgard, Aage R. Møller,
Alice O’Toole, Michael Rugg
Associate Professors: Marco Atzori, Lawrence J. Cauller
(emeritus), Lucien T. Thompson
Assistant Professors: Cindy de Frias, Francesca Filbey, Daniel Krawczyk,
Sven Kroener, Christa McIntyre, Jon Plosksi
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 Masters of Science in Applied Cognition
and Neuroscience (ACN) provides advanced training opportunities in the areas of
Neuroscience, Experimental Psychology, Artificial Intelligence, and
Human-Computer-Interactions. In addition, the ACN program is a
multidisciplinary program that should be of interest to
business professionals interested in retraining or continuing education and who
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. 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 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 5314 Computational Modeling Methods in Behavioral and Brain Sciences
ACN XXX MATLAB for Brain Sciences
CAN 6322 Computational Modeling Methods for Language Understanding
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 Psychological
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.
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 Doctoral Programs in Psychological 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
XXX Matlab for Brain Science, ACN 7367 Speech
Perception Lab, ACN 6322 Computational Modeling Methods for Language
Understanding, and ACN 5314 Computational Modeling Methods in Behavioral and
Brain Sciences. 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 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.
The internship requirement is
satisfied by enrolling in 6 credit hours of ACN 7V71 Industry Internship, ACN
7V72 Research Internship, and/or HCS 8V80 Research in HCS. Students whose
immediate post-graduate goals are graduate school and medical school should
fulfill the Internship Requirement by taking six credit hours of HCS 8V80 in
order to obtain research experience. Students not intending to pursue graduate
or medical school training immediately after receiving their ACN masters degree
should discuss internship opportunities with the Program Head during their
second semester of enrollment in the ACN program.