Learn as much as possible about the nervous system and careers in the field by reading books and visiting Web sites. Neuroscience For Dummies, by Frank Amthor, will give you a good introduction to the field. Here are a few Web sites to check out:

• BrainFacts.org: https://www.brainfacts.org
• What Can You Do With a Neuroscience Degree?: https://medschool.ucla.edu/news-article/what-can-you-do-with-a-neuroscience-degree
• Careers in Neuroscience: https://neurosciencemajor.osu.edu/careers-neuroscience

Visit the Web sites of colleges and universities that offer degrees in neuroscience to learn about typical classes, clinical experiential opportunities, and the field in general. Here are a few schools to investigate:

• University of Chicago: https://neuroscience.uchicago.edu/undergraduate
• Georgia Institute of Technology: https://www.gatech.edu/academics/degrees/bachelors/neuroscience-bs
• Simmons University: https://www.simmons.edu/undergraduate/academics/majors-minors/neuroscience-and-behavior

Participate in information interviews with neuroscientists. In such an interview—which can be conducted in-person, on the phone, or through video-conferencing technology—you will get the opportunity to ask neuroscientists about their job duties, work environment, pros and cons of their careers, educational training, skills for success, and other topics that will help you to learn more about the field. Ask your school counselor or a teacher to help you set up information interviews. Perhaps you could even job-shadow a neuroscientist to learn even more about the field.

The International Youth Neuroscience Association (IYNA) offers summer exploration programs and competitions for college students. It also offers a Neuroethics Essay Contest for high school and college students. Visit https://www.youthneuro.org/events.html for more information.

Neuroscientists study the cellular, molecular, behavioral, functional, medical, and computational aspects of the human nervous system. Some call the human nervous system one of the “last great frontiers of human scientific research” due to its complex interaction with other bodily systems, as well as its impact on behavior, memory, and cognitive functions.

Some neuroscientists conduct research. For example, a neuroscientist might study the brain activity of Alzheimer’s patients using MRI scans and computerized 3–D modeling and experiment on tissue samples to try to better understand and develop treatments and medications for this debilitating illness. Others study the human brain and how it regulates the body and behavior. According to the School of Health Sciences at the University of New South Wales, “neuroscientists use tools such as antibodies and gene probes to identify proteins responsible for brain function; fluorescent dyes to mark neurons and synapses with specific characteristics; microelectrode arrays to study the activity of living neurons in real-time; behavioral methods to study the processes underlying behavior in humans and in animals; and computational models of neurons and their connections in the brain.”

There are more than 15 major branches of modern neuroscience, and neuroscientists usually work in several branches at the same time. Here are a few of the specialties. You can access a longer list by visiting https://neuro.georgetown.edu/about-neuroscience, or by conducting a keyword search on the Internet.

• behavioral neuroscience: the study of how the brain affects behavior
• cellular and molecular neuroscience: the study of the biological aspects of neural function and development
• clinical neuroscience: the study of disorders of the nervous system
• computational neuroscience: the study of how computers can be used to simulate and model brain functions and how neuroscience research can be used to help inform the development of artificial systems in the areas of advanced artificial intelligence (e.g., machine learning, neural networks, natural language processing)
• cognitive neuroscience: the use of linguistics, neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychology to study (via behavioral/experimental methods or computational/modeling) higher cognitive functions in humans and their underlying neural bases
• developmental neuroscience: the study of how the nervous system develops on a cellular basis
• neurolinguistics: the study of the neural mechanisms in the brain that control the acquisition, comprehension, and oral presentation of language
• neurophysiology: the use of physiological techniques (e.g., stimulation with electrodes, light-sensitive channels, ion- or voltage-sensitive dyes) to study the relationship of the brain and its functions

Other specialties include affective neuroscience, cultural neuroscience, neuroengineering, neuroimaging, neuroinformatics, paleoneurology, social neuroscience, and systems neuroscience.

Some neuroscientists work as physicians and treat people who have injuries and illnesses of the nervous system, including:

• vascular disorders (stroke, transient ischemic attack, subdural hemorrhage and hematoma, etc.)
• infections (encephalitis, meningitis, polio, etc.)
• structural disorders (Bells palsy, cervical spondylosis, brain or spinal cord tumors, Guillain-Barré syndrome, brain or spinal cord injury, etc.)
• functional disorders (headache, dizziness, epilepsy, etc.)
• degeneration (multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimers disease, such as Parkinsons disease, etc.)

These physicians examine and treat patients in offices, hospitals, and other medical settings, and some may perform surgery.