Biopsychology Concentration

In the Biopsychology Concentration, students will explore how biological mechanisms relate to a wide range of topics: sensation, cognition, sleep, motivation, emotion, addiction, and clinical disorders. This concentration will expose students to the interface between biology and psychology (e.g., neuroscience, health psychology, psychopharmacology, psychoneuroimmunology, and genetics) and will prepare students for careers in these fields as well as in clinical psychology, medicine, or pharmaceuticals. Students will be offered hands-on research opportunities (with humans and rats), and specialized courses may include cognitive neuroscience, health psychology, neuroanatomy, addiction, psychopharmacology, human neuropsychology, neurological disorders, animal behavior, psychopharmacology of drug abuse, and schizophrenia. Students in this concentration will develop credentials that facilitate challenging careers and graduate / professional studies.

Students completing the biopsychology concentration will receive preparation for careers in fields including clinical psychology, medicine, neuropsychological testing, and pharmaceuticals. This concentration also prepares students for graduate studies in neuroscience, health psychology, psychopharmacology, genetics, clinical psychology and psychoneuroimmunology.

For more information about this concentration, contact the Biopsychology Coordinator, Dr. Leynes, leynes@tcnj.edu

View the Biopsychology Course Requirements »

View Careers in Biopsychology »

Faculty affiliated with the Biopsychology Concentration:

Experiential Learning Opportunities

Students interested in neuroscience and memory can see Dr. Leynes for research opportunities. Dr. Leynes offers Individual study opportunities to several students each semester. These students work with Dr. Leynes in his lab collecting brain activity from human subjects while participants complete various types of memory experiments.

Students interested in alcohol abuse, quantitative analyses of behavior, or pharmacology may enjoy working in the laboratory of Dr. Margaret Martinetti. She and her Individual study students are conducting research examining physiology, behavior, and economic influences on alcohol consumption using laboratory rats as an animal model.

Alumni News

Previous TCNJ students who have pursued careers related to biopsychology

2001 Graduates:

Jessica Walker - pursuing her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience at UCLA
Kim Reeves - pursuing her M.S. in Forensic Psychology at John Jay School of Criminal Justice
Andrew Engell - pursuing his Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience at Princeton University
Neil Albert - pursing his Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience at University of California, Berkley

2002 Graduates:

Tamika Francois - pursuing her M.S. in Speech Pathology at Fordham University
Alyssa Cairns - employed at Bacharach Institute for Rehabilitation (NJ) as a Polysomnographic Technologist. She is applying to neuroscience graduate schools in Fall of 2003.