Best double major for comp neuroscience?

[Agent M27]

I have recently made a change in my future PhD track from astrophysics to computational neuroscience or something very closely related. I am currently a physics major and was going to add biology in the spring. After doing some background research it seems that my current BSc track will suffice in preparing me for the type of course work in grad school. I was wondering though, would I be better prepared as a double major in biology and physics with some high level maths or the route of having a double major in mathematics and biology with some physics course (E&M etc.)? Also the third option, is there another double major combo that will better prepare me than those I listed? This new track, although a recent idea, has completely captivated me and cannot see my future any other way, so I want to start choosing the proper courses now so as not to delay my graduation any further, I feel I may already have excess but the classes were interesting. Thanks and have a happy and successful new year.

Joe

 

[zhermes]

I applaud your enthusiasm, I think anyone of those paths could work well for what you're looking for. I completed a double major in (astro)physics and biology, and it has been an excellent background for computational biology (and neuroscience in particle). That's the path I'd recommend most strongly. If you're good at physics, you'll be more than good enough at math for any comp. bio. In graduate school and after, it's common to pick up whatever particular subjects of mathematics are required without having an explicit background in them. This will be easy with a physics background.

It doesn't seem to be a good path at present, but in the near future astrobiology might be a good thing to consider as-well.

Make sure you seek out REU programs, scholarships, honors, etc during your undergraduate career as-well.

 

[nomilkforsant]

My vote goes to Bio-Chem as your second major.

 

[Diracula]

I think physics and biology would be your best bets. You are using computational methods to describe a physical (biological) system with computational neuroscience, so I think the physical intuition you would develop via physics courses would be more beneficial than developing an understanding of abstract math that you generally won't use in your neuroscience modeling. You are likely getting plenty of math training with a physics degree. (These are just opinions. I have no background in computational neuroscience. I just used to be really interested in it)

 

[Msh1]

For computational biology you don't really need a lot of math, other than basic calculus and linear algebra. You also need a little bit of numerical analysis which sort of falls under computer science or computational mathematics. The best double major to me is biochemistry & computer science, or neuroscience & computer science. You should take a few probability & Statistics courses specially regarding data mining. You also need specialized courses in bioinformatics & computational biology. I don't think physics or math can be of any help.

 

[hadsed]

It depends on what sort of computational neuroscience you mean. If you mean to say, modeling the brain so that you can do research in artificial intelligence and machine learning, it'll be much different than neuroscience for solving problems in medicine. For the former, I know that a CS degree plus a minor in mathematics and perhaps some psychology/neuroscience classes would suffice as I know people who have done this.

 

[fasterthanjoao]

My undergraduate degree is in physics + astronomy, and I work in a sort of computational neuroscience. Systems biology is a huge area nowadays and there are lots of different options and routes depending on what you ultimately want to work on.

It was during my (mathematics) PhD that I became interested in computational applications in neuroscience - and I note that I have no background in biology whatsoever, the only class I have ever taken in it was in my first year of high school. So, the way I went about it was to go along to neuroscience colloquia and make some friends - meet some people that wanted their data analysed or process modeled. I could do this with my mathematical ability, and look to them for their biological interpretation. This is pretty much the way I have always went about things since, I still know very little about the biology but then the numbers are the interesting part to me.

What I do is essentially algorithmic data mining, and I would say my physics degree has served me well. The mathematics I use on a daily basis isn't really any more difficult than second or third year university level so I wouldn't worry about that - the only thing I would say is that if you're hinging between mathematics or physics, then it might be good to look at which option will allow you to pick up some programming experience. Programming ability has been far more valuable than mathematical ability in what I do, and I would say the modellers that I work with even more so.

This all said, a mathematics + biology degree will be fine. Having classes in biology will be a bit of an advantage since you'll be able to talk to biologists - something I still find difficult. It also means (heaven forbid!) you'll be able to *think* like a biologist, which is something very different from thinking like a mathematician. If you're at all interested in chemistry and are sure you want to commit to the double major, then I would second the suggestions of mathematics + biochemistry double major. In a biology major a lot (most) of the stuff you'll do will be irrelevant to neuroscience (though the same will be true for biochemistry) - biochemistry will be useful in a different way.

If you want to work on pharmacology related topics (maybe mental health illness, and their treatment - for instance) then having a bit of chemistry knowledge won't hurt. Metabolomics is also something to look up. But again, as with biology, all you'll really need is a vague understanding of concepts in chemistry.

My post is probably a little scattered, but feel free to message me if you want to know anything more about the sort of things I do and I'll happily look some examples out.

 

[Simfish]

I think Computer Science, Statistics, and Applied Math are your best bets. By far.

You aren't going to need abstract algebra, topology, or real analysis for computational neuroscience. Honestly, it's far more important to learn things like the conjugate gradient algorithm, data mining, and convex optimization

==

And honestly, many computational biologists are people who majored in technical subjects who then self-studied their biology/neurobiology along the way. You don't need a huge amount of biology for computational neuroscience at all - in fact - I worked with a professor in computational neuroscience (he's actually an applied math professor) who doesn't even know organic chemistry. I was able to get a 3.7 in a graduate level neurobiology course (Biophysics of Nerve, Muscle, and Synapse) even though all I had was a self-studied 5 on AP Biology (unfortunately I couldn't take upper-division biology courses due to my school's strict pre-requisite system for biology courses). You'll see lots of people without biology backgrounds in those fields (in fact, most computational biology professors at my school come from physics/applied math/CS backgrounds - almost none come from a pure biology background). Sure biology is *very* interesting, but if it takes time away from developing better analytical skills (or diversifying them by doing a double/triple major in Physics+CS+Stat/Applied Math OR doing grad-lvl courses in those fields, which are often TREMENDOUSLY useful for computational biology), then it's better to develop the analytical skills and then to do research with a comp bio prof. In fact, biology students have notoriously poor analytical skills, so you'll have a huge advantage over them by simply pursuing computational biology.

IMO, a directed self-study using Christof Koch's "Biophysics of Computation" or Abbot's "Theoretical Neuroscience" book would do a lot more than doing a biology major.

If I went to Caltech or MIT, then I might consider a biology or CNS major (in Caltech's case) or a brain and cognitive sciences major (in MIT's case). At least I'd then know that the biology I'm learning is going to be analytically rigorous. But I don't go to those schools so I'd prefer to stick with applied math or physics.

 

[Agent M27]

Thanks for all of the advice, I think I'm going to stick with the physics/bio track. There are just so many interesting subjects with so little time to complete them. As far as comp sci goes, I just recently finished up a small research project on programming in mathematica, which was directed by my calc professor. I am continuing this project this year which deals with data mining and facial recognition, so although comp sci is not on my transcript, I will have adequate experience. Also thank you Simfish for the self study recommendations, I will definitely begin checking those out when I get the free time.

Joe