Behavioral Neuroscience Research

The study of neuroscience includes many branches, including neuropsychology, molecular neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and behavioral neuroscience, among many others. Expand your biomedical research expertise by learning how to use mouse behaviors to study psychiatric disorders in humans. Before research is conducted to understand the human brain, cognition, and the nervous system, studies often first use mice because of the similarities in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and neurobiology. By studying brain function in mice, we gain insight into how the human brain works.

Enhance your knowledge of mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depression in humans and animals, and the role of animal models and animal behavior in studying human behavior and psychiatric disorders by comparing and contrasting human and mouse behavior. Created by Professor Abel Bult-Ito at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, this certificate program, helps you obtain the skills you need to succeed in the biomedical research field by covering the fundamentals of behavioral neuroscience research. Enrollment in the certificate program includes three online neuroscience courses that focus on research using mice and mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and anxiety. Behavioral health, such as the treatment of psychiatric disorders and prevention of suicide, is still one of the biggest challenges in medicine and healthcare today and will continue to be a top priority for scientific research.

By completing these online courses, you’ll have learned responsible conduct of research in behavioral neuroscience; collected, analyzed, and interpreted behavioral data from mice; critically evaluated the use of different behavioral tests in mice; and established a foundation in using behavioral tests in rodents. (Backgrounds in data analysis or data science are not necessary to successfully complete these courses.) Learners will also have obtained important behavioral neuroscience tools, knowhow, and expertise.

• Learn responsible conduct of research in order to collect, analyze, and interpret behavioral data from mouse videos.
• Critically evaluate the use of different behavioral tests in mice.
• Establish a foundation in using behavioral tests in rodents.
• Understand obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depression in humans and animals.
• Understand the role of animal models in studying human psychiatric disorders by comparing and contrasting human and mouse behaviors.

Courses under this program:
Course 1: Behavioral Neuroscience: Foundations of Compulsive Behaviors

Enroll in the first MOOC to teach behavioral neuroscience research using laboratory mice. In this self-paced, free online course, you will learn responsible conduct of research and how to collect scientific data using two different tests that measure compulsions, and interpret and discuss the results in the context of obsessive-compulsive disorder in humans.

Course 2: Behavioral Neuroscience: Analyzing Anxiety and Depression

In this online course, learn how to collect scientific data using behavioral tests that measure anxiety and depression in laboratory mice, and interpret and discuss the results in the context of anxiety and depression in humans and a mouse model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Course 3: Behavioral Neuroscience: Contrasting Tests for Anxiety and Depression

In this online course, learn how to critically evaluate the use of different behavioral tests for anxiety and depression in laboratory mice, and gain a better understanding of how these tests can affect the interpretation of results in the context of mental illness and human psychiatric conditions and mouse models.