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Undergraduate Neuroscience Education in the U.S.: An Analysis using Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

ABSTRACT: Despite an apparent increase in undergraduate neuroscience programs offered by colleges and universities, there has been little effort to document this growth. In the present report we describe our analysis of the expansion of undergraduate neuroscience programs of study over more than 20 years and detail a number of institutional characteristics of colleges and universities that offer undergraduate neuroscience programs. These data reveal more than 100 institutions with undergraduate neuroscience programs as well as over 2000 college graduates that majored in neuroscience in 2008-2009. Understanding the current number as well as growth trends of undergraduate neuroscience programs found in U.S. colleges and universities has implications for neuroscience educators as well as for the funding of neuroscience research and educational activities.

SUBMITTER: Ramos RL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3592722 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Undergraduate Neuroscience Education in the U.S.: An Analysis using Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Ramos Raddy L RL Fokas Georgia J GJ Bhambri Ankur A Smith Phoebe T PT Hallas Brian H BH Brumberg Joshua C JC

Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience 20110315 2

Despite an apparent increase in undergraduate neuroscience programs offered by colleges and universities, there has been little effort to document this growth. In the present report we describe our analysis of the expansion of undergraduate neuroscience programs of study over more than 20 years and detail a number of institutional characteristics of colleges and universities that offer undergraduate neuroscience programs. These data reveal more than 100 institutions with undergraduate neuroscien ...[more]

PMID: 23493915

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Project description:BackgroundEvidence on the relative risk of death across all stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is lacking but greatly needed for the evaluation of new interventions. We used data from the Uniform Data Set (UDS) of the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) to assess the expected survival of a person progressing to a particular stage of AD and the relative risk of death for a person in a particular stage of AD compared with cognitively normal (CN) people.MethodsThis was a retrospective observational cohort study of mortality and its determinants in participants with incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD or AD dementia compared with CN participants. Overall survival and hazard ratios of all-cause mortality in participants ≥ 50 years of age with clinically assessed or diagnosed MCI due to AD, or mild, moderate, or severe AD dementia, confirmed by Clinical Dementia Rating scores, versus CN participants were estimated, using NACC UDS data. Participants were followed until death, censoring, or until information to determine disease stage was missing.ResultsAged between 50 and 104 years, 12,414 participants met the eligibility criteria for the study. Participants progressing to MCI due to AD or AD dementia survived a median of 3-12 years, with higher mortality observed in more severe stages. Risk of death increased with the severity of AD dementia, with the increase significantly higher at younger ages. Participants with MCI due to AD and CN participants had a similar risk of death after controlling for confounding factors.ConclusionsRelative all-cause mortality risk increases with AD severity, more so at younger ages. Mortality does not seem to be higher for those remaining in MCI due to AD. Findings might imply potential benefit of lower mortality if preventing or delaying the progression of AD is successful, and importantly, this potential benefit might be greater in relatively younger people. Future research should replicate our study in other samples more representative of the general US population as well as other populations around the world.

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Dataset Information

Undergraduate Neuroscience Education in the U.S.: An Analysis using Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Publications

Undergraduate Neuroscience Education in the U.S.: An Analysis using Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

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