Neuroscience Track

Click here to watch a presentation about Neuroscience in Uruguay

This is a specialized track option for Neuroscience.  Students not interested in enrolling in a track may opt to participate in our standard, direct-enrollment program.

On the Neuroscience Track, students may take classes at the Universidad de la República’s Facultad de Ciencias or Facultad de Psicología, choosing from a large array of suitable courses in the subject areas of neuroscience, human biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, bioinformatics, food biochemistry, environmental biochemistry, statistics, psychology, and other related classes.  

Students will learn about neuroscience through specific courses that define and develop the field conceptually as well as relate it to current approaches that combine biology, anthropology, nutrition, psychology, and medicine. The main studies focus on the biological, genetic, and behavioral variations of health among human populations in relation to environmental and social conditions.

In addition to coursework, students will have the opportunity to apply classroom learning in a real-world setting through guided research laboratory work at the Facultad de Ciencias or at the prestigious Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable. Students will also take on a credit-bearing academic internship within a specific field of interest, taking advantage of the Middlebury School in Uruguay’s network of partner organizations in Montevideo.

Sample Courses

Fall Semester

  • Facts and Myths on the Brain
  • Biology of Behavior
  • Neuroscience of Systems, Cognition and Neuroethology 
  • Systemic-Behavioral Approach to Neuroscience
  • Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering
  • Statistics
  • Basic Neuroscience: From Molecules to Circuits
  • Physiological-Cellular Approach to Neuroscience
  • Neurobiology of Social Behavior
  • Animal Biology
  • Statistics

Spring Semester

  • Basic Neuroscience: From Molecules to Circuits
  • Physiological-Cellular Approach to Neuroscience
  • Neurobiology of Social Behavior
  • Animal Biology
  • Statistics

Sample Internships

  • La Universidad de la República’s Instituto Clemente Estable in the Facultad de Ciencias: lab research
  • La Universidad de la República’s Facultad de Psicología
  • Portal Amarillo: Group treatment for drug abuse
  • Clínica Luisa Tiraparé: Psychotherapy for children and teenagers
  • Centro de Atención en Psicología Afirmativa LGBTI
  • ECLIPSA: Psychodrama therapy
  • Saludarte: Psychodrama therapy
A student holds up two bags of water with fish inside

Past Internship

Hanna McCuistion, Harvard University

When I made the decision to study abroad in Montevideo, Uruguay, I had no way of knowing that was in store for me over the long, but somehow still too short, five-month semester. A significant facet of that adventure was wrapped up in an internship I had the opportunity to take part in at Clemente Estable, a biological laboratory close by the Universidad Católica where I took most of my classes. The laboratory is occupied by many different fields of study, but I was working in the department of neurophysiology with some pretty incredible leaders to help me on my way. This department constantly has multiple experiments and research projects taking place simultaneously, and I had the privilege to work on a team starting a completely new experiment studying Gymnotus omarorum, a weakly electric and highly aggressive fish found only in a few South American countries. My tasks related to the experiment itself were very hands-on, as I got to take a day-long fishing trip to collect specimens, weigh and measure the fish, calculate and inject doses of hormone blocking substance, and observe and analyze the effects on the fish. Never before had I been trusted with so much responsibility in a lab and treated like a real member of a research team. Apart from the work directly related to the experiment, I also had regular discussions on topics relating to the work we were doing and I read many research articles and chapters to further inform myself, many of which were written by members of the neurophysiology department itself. Close to the end of the semester, I was loving the work so much I almost got a tattoo of G. omarorum to commemorate my time abroad and in the lab! In the end, I learned so much about how biological laboratories actually function on the inside, and about the realities, challenges, and rewards of experimental research. I would highly recommend an internship with Clemente Estable for anyone who loves biology and wants to get some incredible hands on experience in a laboratory setting. If this sounds like you, I promise you won’t regret it!