Hello! I am writing a motivation letter for UCLA. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help to correct it. I already checked it several times but I need someone to take a look and make corrections and suggestions to improve it. Thanks!

Dear Sir or Madame,

I am applying to the Neuroscience Graduate Program at UCLA starting in the fall of 2013. My objective is to become a neuroscientist.

I hold a four and a half year bachelor degree in Psychology with a concentration area in psychophysiology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. I recently obtained my degree with honors mention with the thesis “ Modulation of high frequency oscillations by the activation of A1 and A2A adenosine receptors in the dentate gyrus and hippocampal CA3 area”.

I have always been intrigued by how organisms learn and how the human brain works. I am specially interested in the study of neural networks and brain oscillations as they would help me understand how brain function emerges trough thousands of neurons and synapses. My interests also include information processing and how systems integrate information in order to interact with one another.

My first contact with the study of neurons and neural networks came when I was in sixth semester of my career. I started attending a Neuroscience research laboratory in the Center for Research and Advanced studies in Mexico City, one of the finest research institutions in the country. I did electrophysiological experiments in rat hippocampal brain slices, where we found that pathological high frequency oscillations above 250 Hz related to epilepsy can be suppresed by adenosine; the theme of my thesis and a work that is going to be published in the next months. It is worth mentioning that part of this work was presented last year at the International Epilepsy Congress in Rome, Italy. Last year, I also did a two month stay at Heidelberg University's Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology in Germany, where I worked with multielectrode arrays, a useful tool for the study of network interactions.

All this time I have worked in a very independent environment with students from a wide variety of academic backgrounds from whom I have learned all the research techniques that I know. This has given me the experience and confidence to propose and start research projects. However, I want to acquire new knowledge and techniques in Neuroscience in order to reach my objective, and I am sure that the Neuroscience Graduate program at UCLA is the best option for me. Not only its faculty members are highly qualified researchers but its interdisciplinary approach and quality of training make it a very complete and fine program.

If you have any question or concerns, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your positive response.

Yours sincerely,

Xxxxx Xxxxx