Not everyone can be a brain surgeon, but there are hundreds of free and paid open online courses to teach you how the brain works, how you can apply that knowledge to your learning process, understand human behavior and even deal with brain injury and pathologies. But, how to choose where to start?

We’ve done the work of choosing a course for you. Class Central is a search engine for online courses, with more than 100 courses in our Neuroscience subject. I used ratings and reviews on Class Central and provider sites to find the best open online neuroscience courses.

Our top courses cover a range of sub-fields. According to Wikipedia, neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. It covers the cells of the brain and nervous system, how they work and communicate, and what can go wrong. Psychology, physics, computer science, chemistry, medicine, statistics, and mathematical modeling, as well as various sub-branches of biology can be involved. Interested? We’ve got you covered!

And with over 13,000 followers, Neuroscience is a popular subject amongst Class Central members. Almost all of the courses mentioned here are on our Best Online Courses of All Time list.

Why You Should Trust Us

Class Central, a Tripadvisor for online education, has helped 60 million learners find their next course. We’ve been combing through online education for more than a decade to aggregate a catalog of over 100,000 online courses and 200,000 reviews written by our users. And we’re online learners ourselves: combined, the Class Central team has completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees.

I’ve personally completed over 150 online courses in a variety of topics including neuroscience.

Here are our top picks:

How We Made Our Picks and Tested Them

Trying to find “the best” can be daunting, even for those of us who live and breathe online courses. Here’s how I approached this task.

First, I combed through Class Central’s Catalog and the internet to find a variety of free and paid open courses, some with certificates. You don’t need to enroll in a university to learn about neuroscience.

I extracted information from course syllabi and reviews, and compiled their ratings, leveraging the Class Central database with its thousands of course ratings and reviews written by our users as well as course provider ratings. I watched some course videos to sample courses I hadn’t already taken.

Then, I defined the scope for these recommendations. A neuroscience course can cover various topics. I chose top courses from a range of sub-fields:

• The basics: If you’ve never studied neuroscience before;
• Advanced neuroscience: if you already know some cell biology, physiology, and anatomy;
• How neuroscience can help us learn more quickly and easily;
• Understanding how brain function relates to behavior and psychology;
• And what happens when the brain doesn’t work perfectly.

Ultimately, I used a combination of data and my own judgment to make these picks. I’m confident these recommendations will be a good way to learn neuroscience.

Best Beginner Neuroscience Course

Fundamentals of Neuroscience, Part 1: The Electrical Properties of the Neuron is the first course in the Fundamentals of Neuroscience XSeries created by Harvard University, with over 500K enrollments. Its focus is on how neurons communicate via electrical signals. The final week includes hands-on experiments to deepen your understanding of how the nervous system works.

Learner Daniel Reid says, “…This course will greatly help me with my passion in mental health and understanding the workings of the brain …”

Later courses in the XSeries focus on Neurons and Networks and The Brain.

Best Advanced Neuroscience Course

Medical Neuroscience by Duke University has more than 300K enrollments. This course recommends a college-level background in cellular and molecular biology and general knowledge of systems physiology and human anatomy. In week 1, a preliminary quiz allows students to self-assess their readiness for this class. Even though I don’t have college biology, knowledge I’ve gained from several biology and health online courses helped me pass the quiz first go.

The course is divided into five units: neuroanatomy, neural signaling, sensory systems, motor systems, and brain development.

Although the course information says 71 hours of material, in the first week Professor White mentions that a typical learner may need to spend 16-20 hours per week including 4-6 hours of video tutorials, so it’s not for the faint-hearted. But with a 4.8 star rating on Class Central, it’s clear that this is a rewarding course. In the words of Marina Buryak, “If you are looking to learn from a gifted professor, if you want to walk away with a lot of knowledge, if you need a new way of looking at neuroscience, or if you want to be hooked on the subject, look no further.”

Best Course Relating Neuroscience to Learning

Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects is one of the most popular online courses in the world, with nearly 3.5 million learners. More are enrolled in other language editions. Although the course focus is on learning, it draws on neuroscience to explain how to make the most of your brain’s processes to learn more efficiently. According to Rebecca Judd’s in-depth review, “The course’s roots are in neurology and science. At every step the professors explain not just how to learn better, but why these concepts work. They manage to translate their deep, scientific expertise into explanations that any lay-person can understand.”

I am among the hundreds, if not thousands, of learners who wish they could have taken this course sooner in life.

Best Course Relating Neuroscience to Behaviour

Biopsychology by Professor Dave Explains teaches us how the structure and physiology of the brain relate to functions including emotions, the five senses, drug addiction, and psychiatric disorders. Although this recently-added course has not yet made it onto the Best Online Courses of All Time list, it has over 125K views on YouTube.

Best Courses to Explore Brain Injury and Pathologies

I can’t leave the topic of neuroscience without mentioning the top-quality free courses produced by the University of Tasmania. They all start with an explanation of brain structure and normal function before exploring issues such as dementia, traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis.

Understanding Dementia has over 13,000 reviews on Class Central. As the world’s population ages, the incidence of dementia is constantly increasing. Learn about its symptoms, causes, and how to care for people with dementia with this course and its shorter sister course, Preventing Dementia. An anonymous reviewer says, “I am now recommending the course to friends and family and basically anyone who will listen.” And here is an in-depth review.

Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is another course that explains how the brain and nervous system work before delving into pathology. More than 1000 learners have awarded this course an average of 4.9 stars. See my in-depth review.

Understanding Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is the latest offering from the University of Tasmania. With more than 1200 reviews on Class Central, it’s likely only a matter of time before it joins the other UTas courses on the Best Online Courses of All Time list. You never know when the knowledge from this course may come in handy, whether you’re a health professional, sports official, family member, or maybe you have suffered a head blow or concussion from a fall or traffic crash. Read my in-depth review here.