2 answers
Jasmine
Student
Livonia, Michigan
2
Questions
Updated
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Which major will benefit me more in pursing a career: psychology or neuroscience?
I was given advice that a #neuroscience major would benefit me more than a #psychology major when persuading a career in #psychiatry and I wanted to know if this was true or not?
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2 answers
Daniela Silva
Freelance Writer in Mental Health and Education
922
Answers
State of Goiás, State of Goiás, Brazil
Updated
Daniela’s Answer
Hi jasmine!
The main difference between psychology and neuroscience is the object of study: psychologists study behavior; neuroscientists study the nervous system. The disciplines overlap in an area usually referred to as the mind, the unseen “software” that controls behavior. But you can’t have a mind without a nervous system, and most particularly, a brain, so perhaps you could learn everything you need to know about psychology just by studying neuroscience. That said, studying only the brain to understand behavior will be slow going if you skip over psychology and its direct study of behavior. In our view, studying both psychology and neuroscience is the best way to understand the mind, behavior, and the nervous system.
With modern neuroimaging tools, neuroscientists can tell us amazing things about the brain. They can show, for example, that the same region of the brain is activated when we listen to music or language, thus suggesting an important link between music and language. They have identified the precise regions of the brain responsible for processing hearing, sight, and smell. Armed with this knowledge, neurosurgeons can better treat conditions like brain cancer (so they can avoid damaging critical areas) and mental illness (by creating drugs or even implants that target specific areas). With the help of neuroscience, so many advances have been made in understanding the human brain that it’s indeed tempting to argue that psychologists aren’t needed at all.
Psychology is needed because we can learn useful, important things about human nature without knowing a thing about what goes on in the brain. A purely psychological understanding of how the visual system processes color, for example, led to the development of color photography and television–well before an MRI showed us which areas of the brain were active while watching TV. Stanley Milgram’s psychology experiments showed how ordinary people would commit atrocious acts simply because an authority figure told them to–demonstrating that we all have the capacity to commit atrocities. More recent studies on vision and language help us build better computer interfaces, or understand why talking on a cell phone while driving is a bad idea–all without directly drawing on knowledge of the brain.
Psychologists have identified many phenomena for which neuroscientists have yet to find analogous activity in the brain. For example, both musical experts and non-experts display the same brain response to atonal (out of tune) music, yet experts believe this music sounds terrible, while many non-experts do not. Neuroscientists can use research like this to guide their work–perhaps soon they will identify the brain mechanisms for this difference between musical experts and non-experts. Then they can move on to the next problem identified by psychologists, and together, psychology and neuroscience can help us all understand how the brain shapes behavior.
Source: http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/04/04/ask-a-scienceblogger-do-we-rea/
Have a good decision!
The main difference between psychology and neuroscience is the object of study: psychologists study behavior; neuroscientists study the nervous system. The disciplines overlap in an area usually referred to as the mind, the unseen “software” that controls behavior. But you can’t have a mind without a nervous system, and most particularly, a brain, so perhaps you could learn everything you need to know about psychology just by studying neuroscience. That said, studying only the brain to understand behavior will be slow going if you skip over psychology and its direct study of behavior. In our view, studying both psychology and neuroscience is the best way to understand the mind, behavior, and the nervous system.
With modern neuroimaging tools, neuroscientists can tell us amazing things about the brain. They can show, for example, that the same region of the brain is activated when we listen to music or language, thus suggesting an important link between music and language. They have identified the precise regions of the brain responsible for processing hearing, sight, and smell. Armed with this knowledge, neurosurgeons can better treat conditions like brain cancer (so they can avoid damaging critical areas) and mental illness (by creating drugs or even implants that target specific areas). With the help of neuroscience, so many advances have been made in understanding the human brain that it’s indeed tempting to argue that psychologists aren’t needed at all.
Psychology is needed because we can learn useful, important things about human nature without knowing a thing about what goes on in the brain. A purely psychological understanding of how the visual system processes color, for example, led to the development of color photography and television–well before an MRI showed us which areas of the brain were active while watching TV. Stanley Milgram’s psychology experiments showed how ordinary people would commit atrocious acts simply because an authority figure told them to–demonstrating that we all have the capacity to commit atrocities. More recent studies on vision and language help us build better computer interfaces, or understand why talking on a cell phone while driving is a bad idea–all without directly drawing on knowledge of the brain.
Psychologists have identified many phenomena for which neuroscientists have yet to find analogous activity in the brain. For example, both musical experts and non-experts display the same brain response to atonal (out of tune) music, yet experts believe this music sounds terrible, while many non-experts do not. Neuroscientists can use research like this to guide their work–perhaps soon they will identify the brain mechanisms for this difference between musical experts and non-experts. Then they can move on to the next problem identified by psychologists, and together, psychology and neuroscience can help us all understand how the brain shapes behavior.
Source: http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/04/04/ask-a-scienceblogger-do-we-rea/
Have a good decision!
Noah Godwin
Student
55
Answers
Kirtland, OH
Updated
Noah’s Answer
If you're going into med school then neuroscience is likely the better choice. If you choose psychology, you're likely going to have to take extra courses to fulfill the med prereqs. Additionally, if you do choose neuroscience and go down the psychiatry path, I suggest gaining considerable knowledge or experience with counseling and non-medical mental health. There are a great deal of psychiatrists who consistently resort to medication when that isn't always the best option. Doing some research on alternative approaches such as meditation, CBT, DBT, etc. will make you a much more well rounded and equipped psychiatrist.