Good Brain, Bad Brain: Basics - University of Birmingham

This free online course is an introduction to the key concepts of the human brain and is designed for the non-specialist. It gives you basic information and explanations, so that you may better understand your own amazing brain.

We will look at what your brain is made of, how these components are organised and how they function.

This information is helping neuroscientists across the globe understand the brain - and how it is able to do everything from stopping you falling off your bike, to making you feel sad that your football team lost their game, to helping you learn how your brain works.

Like all specialist areas, the field of neuroscience has its own terminology, and often a single word or short phrase can carry a whole paragraph’s meaning. This course is designed to introduce you to this specialist lexicon and the key biological processes underpinning brain function.

This course is the first of three in the Good Brain, Bad Brain series. It will help you become familiar and confident with the basics, so you can go on to join:

• Good Brain, Bad Brain: Parkinson’s Disease

• Good Brain, Bad Brain: Drug Origins