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
Residential Tuition :
$5,498
Commuter Tuition:
$3,198
Session 1:
June 30, 2024
July 12, 2024
Session 2:
July 14, 2024
July 26, 2024
SESSION 3:
July 28, 2024
August 9, 2024
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
Session 1 Instructor : Anny Reyes, Ph.D.
Anny Reyes, Ph.D. is a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
She completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology specializing in neuropsychology at the SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program and her neuropsychology internship at Emory School of Medicine. Prior to this, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Neuroscience from SUNY Albany, as well as her Master’s Degree in General Psychology from New York University (NYU). Dr. Reyes uses neuropsychological and neuroimaging tools to investigate the impact of seizures on cognition and brain structure in patients with epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. She also examines the impact of social and structural determinants of health on cognitive outcomes. Her program of research will focus on promoting brain health equity via the development and implementation of lifestyle, behavioral, and cognitive interventions to help prevent dementia or slow the progression in diverse and underserved populations. Clinically, she is interested in cultural neuropsychology and offering clinical services to Spanish-speaking patients. At the leadership level, Dr. Reyes has focused on increasing diversity within neuropsychology and neuroscience via mentorship and recruitment initiatives. She has mentored numerous students including high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. Dr. Reyes co-directs the Society for Black Neuropsychology Mentorship Program.
Session 2 & 3 Instructor: Jiwandeep Kohli, Ph.D.
Dr. Jiwandeep Kohli is a Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Multimodal Imaging and Genetics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
He completed his PhD in the SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Quantitative Methods. Prior to this, he earned his Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology from San Diego State University, his Master of Arts in Psychology with emphasis in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience from San Diego State University, as well his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UC Berkeley. Dr. Kohli does interdisciplinary research using multimodal neuroimaging techniques, neuropsychological assessment, and advanced quantitative methods to study both etiology and outcomes in neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders across the lifespan. His current work employs these approaches to study changes in brain anatomy, function, and cognition related to epilepsy and brain tumors. His prior research examined the same features in autistic adults entering middle to older age. He is broadly interested in methods that allow us to draw improved links between brain structure, function, and cognition in heterogeneous conditions. Dr. Kohli also conducts neuropsychological and psychodiagnostic assessments in a variety of clinical settings, including evaluations for neurodevelopmental disorders and pre-surgical planning. As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Kohli is a strong advocate for cultivating interests outside of work, and enjoys baking, photography, and long distance running as his primary hobbies.
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 (including dissecting a sheep brain!), 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.
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.
