Modern neuroscience is an intensely multidisciplinary scientific endeavor, but its many subfields often remain somewhat insular. Cellular neuroscience

How to be a multidisciplinary neuroscientist

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2024-11-16 20:00:04

Modern neuroscience is an intensely multidisciplinary scientific endeavor, but its many subfields often remain somewhat insular. Cellular neuroscience, for example, zooms in on the molecular mechanisms of individual neurons, whereas systems neuroscience takes a much broader view, focusing on neuronal circuits. Both seek to answer key questions that are essential for our understanding of the brain, but they approach these questions in different ways.

The lack of interaction among neuroscience disciplines is evident in lecture themes, seminar talks, and specialized meetings and conferences, which tend to satisfy the needs of only one field rather than bridge the gap between them. We are trained in our neuroscience subcultures, and then we have a hard time breaking out of them.

Investigators need to establish a niche in their respective fields, but exploring other areas of neuroscience during training can make for more versatile scientists. A multidisciplinary approach can help improve crosstalk between subfields and develop future neuroscientists who tackle research questions from multiple angles. But to do so, we need buy-in at all levels of training.

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