Psychology & Neuroscience at UC San Diego

Learn from a psychology instructor with over 20 years of teaching experience

Psychology summer program for teens, located on a university campus in San Diego

Program Highlights

Uncover the mystery of how the mind works, and examine the connection between the brain and human behavior.
Learn about the development of the brain and how anatomical structures affect normal behaviors as well as neurological dysfunction.
Explore the anatomy of the brain and central nervous system through hands-on activities such as a sheep brain and cow spinal cord dissection.
Understand and explore treatment strategies for a variety of mental health issues that affect millions of individuals.
Interact with clinical psychologists, neurologists, and researchers who are experts in this specialized field.
Artificial intelligence, processing neurological data, brain
Tuition:

Residential Tuition :
$5,498

Commuter Tuition:
$3,198

Dates:

Session 1:
June 30, 2024 July 12, 2024

Session 2:
July 14, 2024 July 26, 2024

SESSION 3:
July 28, 2024 August 9, 2024

Location:

UC San Diego
San Diego, CA

Course Overview

The adult human brain weighs approximately 3 pounds making up less than roughly 2% of a person’s body weight, yet it defines our humanity and makes us the individuals that we are – and yet no two are the same. The brain is responsible for the generation of language, thought, attention, consciousness, memory, imagination, and more. But how? And what makes certain people in society behave one way, and others another? Nothing is more fascinating and mysterious than the inner workings of the brain and human psychology.

In Summer Springboard’s Psychology & Neuroscience course on the campus of UCSD, students will explore these fundamental questions and more. Our course will explore the anatomy of the human brain, how it functions, and how that correlates and influences human behavior. Students will learn about how the brain works, how that affects behavior such as social dynamics, emotions, personality, mental illness, and how psychologists study them. Students will get to construct their own miniature psychology theory, design/run an experiment to test it, and present findings to the class.

Meet your instructor

Rob Cortes

Psychology & Neuroscience Georgetown University

Dr. Rob Cortes obtained his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from Georgetown University, where he was a National Science Foundation and Patrick Healy fellow.

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Topics you'll explore

Hands-On Learning


Students will learn to tackle these fundamental questions with the tools of psychological science. Students will learn about classic experiments in psychology, with the goal of getting a hands-on, experiential understanding of how people work and how psychologists study them. They will explore social dynamics; emotions; personality; mental illness; the nature of beliefs; neuroscience; and the relationship between the mind, brain, and body. As a capstone project, they will construct their own miniature psychology theory, design/run an experiment to test it, and present findings to the class.

psychology neuroscience 1

Career Exploration


Students will visit the Brain Observatory at UC San Diego to learn about one of the most famous patients in neuroscience. The Brain Observatory is building the first museum and learning center in the world that is fully dedicated to the human brain. Students will have the opportunity to view exhibits, attend informative lectures, and interact with neuroscientists as they conduct research on Alzheimer’s and other diseases of the brain utilizing cutting edge neuroimaging technologies.

Brain Observatory UCSD (1)

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Summer Springboard Pre-College Summer Program