psychology vs neuroscience

I'm really interested in both how the brain works and in mental illnesses. I was wondering if It would be better for me to do an undergrad in psychology or neuroscience?

Reply 1

CardiffUni Rep 2

Official Rep

Original post by user892390390

I'm really interested in both how the brain works and in mental illnesses. I was wondering if It would be better for me to do an undergrad in psychology or neuroscience?

Hey there! I'm Fatiha, 3rd year (placement year) psychology undergrad.

Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe neuroscience looks at the brain at a more molecular level, looking at the chemistry and biology of it. Most courses will ask you to have a background A-level in chemistry or biology because of this.

Courses in psychology, like the one in Cardiff, does cover a quite a bit of neuroscience, so we do learn about how the brain works, but more about its processes rather than what's going on at chemical level, if that makes sense. I think in general you'd look at mental illnesses more in a psychology degree rather than a neuroscience degree.

But in general, I'd recommend looking at the universities you're interested in, and comparing the psychology modules in comparison to the neuroscience modules, and seeing what you'd prefer studying :smile:

I hope that helps!

~ Fatiha, Cardiff University Student Rep

Reply 2

Scotland Yard

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by user892390390

I'm really interested in both how the brain works and in mental illnesses. I was wondering if It would be better for me to do an undergrad in psychology or neuroscience?

As @CardiffUni Rep 2 points out, psychology covers a lot of neuroscience (in fact I'd say psychology is 50% neuroscience these days) but it doesn't delve as a neuroscience degree would, because it then goes on to focus on other aspects of the brain and human behaviour.

For mental illnesses, psychology is definitely the way to go, but you have to consider that mental disorders is just a part of the course, not the whole thing.

To finish off, I just wanted to make you aware that there are combined psychology and neuroscience degrees so you might want to consider those too :smile: