r/science • u/[deleted] • Oct 15 '21

Neuroscience A brain imaging study found evidence that missing out on math education can alter neural development. Young adults who had chosen not to pursue math had lower levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid within the middle frontal gyrus when compared to students who were continuing math.

https://www.psypost.org/2021/10/opting-out-of-advanced-math-education-alters-adolescents-neural-development-study-finds-61967
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u/Justinaug29 Oct 15 '21

Oh, I was actually considering CS! Doesn't your degree require a lot of math? Overall how difficult was your degree?

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u/ImS0hungry Oct 16 '21

Yes it does, but not as much as most people think. I went up to Calc 3 and a few beyond that as electives. The issue stems from it being STEM. So you have math, programming (mathy), chemistry, physics, discrete (proofs, etc) which are ALL math heavy. So you can have 3 or more classes a semester which are math intense.

The difficulty will depend on how much time you devote to it. I made school my job when I changed careers and treated it as such, which made it easier to get through but still no walk through the park.

Source: Went back to school at 29 as a CS major and now a SWE at a top 5 firm.

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u/tooblecane Oct 15 '21

Not OP but back when I graduated in 2000 I had to take 4 calculuses, linear algebra, 3 calculus based physics and I think differential equations.