BSc (Hons) Neuroscience (Placement Year) Bachelor's degree at Lancaster University

This module provides an exciting opportunity to explore the anatomy and physiology of key body systems and build a solid foundation to support your future learning. Focusing on the human system, you will examine the structure-function relationships of the organs and tissues that protect, sustain, and maintain the body in health. You’ll also discover the mechanisms of communication within and between tissues that regulate responses to maintain homeostasis within an organism. Through a combination of lectures, interactive workshops and hands-on laboratory sessions, you will develop essential scientific knowledge and practical skills, reinforcing your understanding of how the body maintains hom

Cognition is the mental processes underlying our ability to process and perceive the world around us. Social psychology offers a way to understand ourselves and the social world around us. You will learn about classic paradigms and experimental approaches, covering key historical and conceptual topics within these fields of psychological research. You will be provided with a comprehensive overview of core theories and findings as well as explore how theories and findings extend beyond the laboratory setting into the real world. You will also see how personality, individual differences, and intelligence impact our mental processes and are expressed in our thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Your first theory module will introduce you to two key areas of study in psychology, developmental psychology and neuropsychology, plus the underpinning concept of individual differences. Developmental Psychology looks at change over time, using theories of learning (such as those from Piaget and Vygotsky) as a focus for discussion. Neuropsychology takes us into the realms of the brain and mind, where you will begin to understand the complex interplay between the brain and behaviour in real-world contexts. You will learn to use primary sources of knowledge - peer-reviewed journal articles presenting scientific theory and evidence - to enrich your thinking and talking about psychology and dev

Pharmacology is a cornerstone of modern medicine. It provides the basis for the discovery, development, and use of drugs for the management and treatment of human health and disease. In this module you will learn about the key concepts and principles that underpin the science of pharmacology. We will consider how drugs interact with targets in the body, to cause their physiological effects, and how our bodies interact with these drugs. We will also explore how these are impacted by factors like age, sex, and ethnicity. We’ll then explore drug discovery and development, including the stages involved in taking a new drug from initial concept through to clinical use. Finally, we’ll consider the

Explore the fascinating world of genetics and biotechnology, from the fundamentals of inheritance to cutting-edge genomics. You’ll examine Mendelian genetics and the molecular basis of inheritance through learning how DNA is replicated and how genes are transcribed and translated. You’ll examine the human genome, genome sequencing and be introduced to the role of bioinformatics in understanding genetic data. You’ll also discover how DNA damage can lead to genetic mutations that can in turn lead to heritable and non-heritable diseases and explore genetic testing techniques used today. The module also introduces other key molecular biotechnologies, including microbial, plant and animal technol

This module introduces you to the essential skills required to support your studies in the biosciences. You will learn how to design and undertake safe, ethical, hypothesis-driven experiments, and gain hands-on experience of essential laboratory skills and equipment. This is complemented with training in carrying out scientific calculations and the use of computational tools to effectively analyse and present diverse types of data. Finally, this module prepares you to communicate your research to a scientific audience through effective presentation of results and developing a scientific writing style that summarises and critically evaluates your results in the context of current scientific l

This module introduces you to the fundamental neural principles underlying cognition and behaviour, with particular emphasis on perceptual, cognitive, and emotional processes. You will gain basic knowledge of the anatomy, physiology, and functions of the central and peripheral nervous systems, alongside a range of theories and neuroscientific research methods. Develop your analytical and critical thinking skills by engaging in scientific literature and making comparisons across different theories and methods. By the end of the module, you will understand the methods used to study the nervous system and be able to describe the general relationships between brain structure and function. Topics

Delve deeper into the fascinating world of cognitive psychology. You’ll uncover how the brain processes information, how we remember, learn, focus our attention and make sense of what we see and hear. Topics include everything from memory and categorisation to face recognition, auditory processing and how our senses work together. Explore landmark studies and cutting-edge research that reveal how our minds shape behaviour. This is your chance to engage with the science behind how we experience the world. You’ll sharpen your ability to analyse research, evaluate evidence, and make sense of complex ideas. It’s a key step in understanding human behaviour and in building your own research and cr

This module takes you through the process of drug development - from initial discovery to market. We'll cover target identification and validation followed by hit identification and lead discovery. You’ll learn about different approaches for finding new drugs: from high throughput screening of compound libraries to focused screens, virtual screens and structure-based drug design. You’ll gain insight into challenges in assessing the efficacy and safety of new drugs, including the testing strategies and legal requirements involved. We will explore how preclinical models are used to test pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters and how this helps determine factors like drug formulation an

In this module you'll gain a detailed understanding of the structure and function of the nervous system. You will learn how the diverse cell types of the nervous system work together to allow it to perform its various complex functions. We will cover aspects from the microscopic scale, such as the molecular inner workings of single neurons and synapses, up to the large-scale complexity of how brain areas work together to process information and produce behaviour. How these processes are impacted in a variety of neurological disorders will also be considered. You will also gain new insight into the range of experimental approaches and techniques that have been used to reveal fundamental aspec

In this module you will gain a deep understanding of the molecular processes that underpin the normal function of genes and genomes, with a focus on eukaryotes, and how these processes can become disrupted in disease. We'll discuss DNA replication and the importance of faithful transmission of genetic information from one generation to the next. We will also consider the molecular mechanisms used by cells to ensure the information encoded in the genome is transcribed and translated appropriately to produce proteins. You'll gain insight into the crucial role epigenetics plays in genome function through its regulation of gene expression and learn about how mutations arise in genomes and their

This module will equip you with an in-depth understanding of critical concepts in the science of pharmacology through exploration of real-world examples. You will gain deeper insight into how pharmacodynamic parameters determine how drugs are administered and their effects on the body. In addition to looking at how drugs affect the body, we'll also discuss how the body affects drugs - exploring in detail the pharmacokinetic parameters of absorption, distribution metabolism and excretion (ADME). You'll learn how drug formulation and delivery route can alter ADME characteristics, enabling a drug's effects to be fine-tuned to achieve the required clinical outcome. We will cover adverse effects

You will spend this year working in a graduate-level placement role. This is an ideal opportunity to gain experience in an industry or sector that you might be considering working in once you graduate. Although it's up to you to find your placement we'll support you all the way. Our Careers Service will provide guidance on CVs, applications, interview techniques and creating a digital profile.

In this module you will learn how brain circuits are set up and how they work to process information and produce behaviour. This module will give you a deep and broad understanding of nervous system function, from the mechanisms involved in the development of the nervous system, to how it is set up to process sensory information. You will learn about the neural control of complex behaviours, learning and memory and higher order cognitive processes. You’ll also learn about the valuable role that experiments conducted in a diverse range of model organisms has played in elucidating the developmental pathways, molecular mechanisms and neural circuits underlying behaviours. Practical exercises wi

The research project provides you with first-hand experience of research and the opportunity to be immersed in an area of work of current interest in biomedical and life sciences. Your research project is underpinned by training in research methods to support you in planning, conducting, and reporting on an open-ended investigation. Throughout your project, you’ll receive one-to-one support from a member of academic staff with expertise in your specific area of study. Projects cover a wide variety of topics and may be carried out in a variety of ways. They involve a significant amount of original work and analysis, so you gain experience in a range of skills, including experimental design an

Whilst scientific advances have led to tremendous improvements in human health over the past century, significant challenges remain. These include, problems associated with an ageing population and an increase in non-communicable diseases, new and re-emerging infectious diseases, the impact of environmental factors and social determinants on health, as well as continued disparity in access to healthcare provision across different population groups. In this module you will study challenges of global significance that will provide you with a real-world perspective on human health and the multi-disciplinary and collaborative approaches required to tackle challenges on a national and internation

You only know what's real because your brain tells you it is real. However, what if your brain is lying to you? Examine striking instances of hallucination, delusions and disorders of consciousness in the neurotypical and pathological population. You will critically review a broad ranging and interdisciplinary set of findings from neurology, neuroscience (including brain-imaging and brain-stimulation), neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry and the scientific accounts proposed by these disciplines for these aberrant experiences. You will examine a wide variety of case studies, approaches, and methods and their relation to over-arching theory. A recurring question will be, "Why are certain types of

This module will provide an in-depth exploration of novel pharmacological approaches that are revolutionising the treatment of many conditions. You will be introduced to new concepts in the design and use of small molecules to treat disease. For example, we will look at how PROTACs and molecular glues can be used to degrade target proteins rather than inhibit them. We will also discuss recently emerging therapeutic avenues such as biologics, nanotechnology, cell and gene therapy, immunological therapies, and other medicine modalities. You'll understand how these approaches work and the benefits they offer in treating and preventing disease.

Explore the ‘ins and outs’ of cognitive science, integrating cutting-edge research with practical applications. Gain insight into experimental research from the cognitive revolution onwards, work which has produced ever more sophisticated models of human behaviour. You will also investigate the world outside the cognitive science laboratory, building your understanding of a variety of behaviours and events, applying core insights from within.