Human Brain Courses

Why Study the Human Brain?

The brain drives everything about our lives, but there is still so much we don't know and don't understand how it works. We can quickly identify the parts of the brain (cerebrum or frontal lobe, for example) and its place in the overall nervous system. Through steady research, we're still uncovering details of how the brain works and what makes it tick. Neuroscientists are making strides in our understanding, treatment paths, and tools we can use to enhance our brain and keep it healthy. Whether you're researching treatments and cures for things like Alzheimer's disease or you're hoping to uncover more about the physiology of areas of the brain, studying the brain can help discover new innovations.

Human Brain Courses and Certifications

EdX.org offers courses in partnership with leaders and thinkers in the field. You can take them from the comfort of your own home, and many offer credit or official certification. You can learn all about the human body and its various systems. Harvard offers a course, Fundamentals of Neuroscience, that goes over the physiology of the brain in part 3. You can study parts of the brain, including small parts like dendrites and nerve cells all the way to brain regions like the Occipital lobe or the midbrain. You'll understand how the parts of the brain work together to become who you are. You can also take targeted courses such as EPFL's Cellular Mechanisms of Brain Functions or Ethics in Life Science from Kyoto University. These targeted courses help teach you about brain concerns within the context of microbiology, for example, or philosophy.

How the Human Brain Informs Research

Now, with the presence of artificial intelligence, our understanding of the human brain is even more critical. Brain areas can help us build better machines for unsupervised learning, and things like cell bodies and nerve fibers could help uncover truly smart prosthetics. The rest of the body works because of the functions of the brain and spinal cord. Studying things like brain injuries and chronic degenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease really uncovers the secrets to living better and longer. Brain research is building our understanding of the central nervous system. Sections of the brain, including the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere or smaller areas like the prefrontal cortex and how they play together, give us inspiration for building artificial intelligence and researching medical breakthroughs. Your brain cells hold a lot of secrets, but with time, we'll know more about how the human brain works. Your grey matter constitutes who you are, and you can get on a path to research or innovation.