The neurosciences are one of the most promising scientific fields of the moment, and their close relationship with psychology makes both sciences mutually intelligible. However, their study and learning can be complicated if one does not know how to begin.

This selection of free and online neuroscience courses are the best option for those people who want to discover this world without compromising their financial stability and without having to leave home.

Free online neuroscience courses

This selection of online neuroscience courses covers many of the fields of study that may be of interest to university students in different careers or simply to curious people.

All of them offer the possibility of obtaining a certificate upon completion , but normally that step does require a disbursement. In addition, many of them have been designed by some of the most prestigious universities in the world. To register, just click on the name – let’s get started!

1. Biology of Consciousness

  • Organization: World Science University
  • Offers certificate: Yes

The subject of consciousness has been the source of many of the main questions addressed by the philosophy of mind, but biology and neurosciences also have much to say about it. It is not in vain that all the processes that allow the appearance of the "self" have to do with the way in which neurons, glial cells and other parts of our organism interact with each other.

This free course from the World Science University, led by neuroscientist Christof Kocho, offers a pleasant introduction to the way consciousness appears from the functioning of an organism. It will be of special interest to students of Psychology and Biology , but also to all kinds of curious people in general. After all, consciousness is something that affects us all directly.

2. Introduction to Consumer Neuroscience

  • Organization: Copenhagen Business School
  • Offers certificate: Yes

Neuromarketing has burst into the world of organizations , and it is increasingly given importance to an approach that understands the way the consumer thinks and feels by going into the details of what happens in his brain when he sees an ad, when he hesitates between two products or when he judges whether a price is too high or not.

In this Neuromarketing course Professor Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy reviews the fundamentals of this interesting branch of neuroscience and how it can serve to understand the human mind.

3. Brain and Space

  • Organization: Duke University
  • Offers certificate: Yes

Most of the conscious and unconscious mental processes that the brain carries out have to do with our way of perceiving and imagining the space around us and with the way we move through it .

In addition, the way our brain (working together with the rest of the nervous system) recreates spaces and movements has an effect on how we think and what our mental capacities are. From dancing to knowing how to play a musical instrument, to the way we recognize people, are processes that have to do with this kind of brain activity. In fact, imagined space even influences how we remember things.

This course conducted by scientist Jennifer Groh and Duke University has been recognized for studying complex ideas and concepts in a didactic, simple and accessible way.

4. Advanced Neurobiology

  • Organization: Peking University
  • Offers certificate: Yes

This course allows to learn an overview of the basic functioning of the brain and the location and structure of the different structures that form it, as well as how some diseases degrade nerve tissues. It is especially recommended for people with a basic knowledge of biology, and consists of a second part that serves to complete the training.

5. Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science

  • Organization: Peking University
  • Offers certificate: Yes

Philosophy is the basis of all sciences and neuroscience is no exception to this rule. This free online course introduces us to the main philosophical issues related to the science of the nervous system and the mental processes and currents of thought that allow us to give an explanation to what is going on inside our head.

6. Medical Neuroscience

  • Organization: Duke University
  • Offers certificate: Yes

Another of the free neuroscience courses organized by Duke University. In this case, the training program is designed to meet the needs of students of medical and health sciences .

Through its curriculum it is possible to learn the basics of Clinical Neuroanatomy, the physiological processes that keep us alive and are regulated by the brain, and the way the brain works on basic mental functions such as planning of movements, perception of sounds and visual stimuli, etc.

7. Fundamentals of Neuroscience: electrical properties of the neuron

  • Organization: Harvard University
  • Offers certificate: Yes

Neuroscience is not all about knowing the different parts of the brain; it is also about understanding how our nervous system works on a microscopic scale. How is information transmitted between neurons through the synaptic spaces? What is depolarization?

This free neuroscience course focuses on the functioning of those electrical currents that run through our nervous system and are considered the basis of all our mental and physiological activity

8. Introduction to Neuroeconomics

  • Organization: National Research University Higher School of Economics
  • Offers certificate: Yes

Decision-making that makes economic dynamics go one way or the other depends on mental processes studied by psychology and neuroscience. This free course to understand how the link between neuroscience and economic studies works.

9. Drugs and Brain

  • Organization: California Institute of Technology
  • Offers certificate: Yes

Drugs interfere with the functioning of the nervous system and therefore affect our way of thinking and feeling (or even make us not feel or think at all). This course of neuroscience applied to the study of drugs is perfect for understanding these mechanisms.

10. Brain Analysis: Day-to-Day Neurobiology

  • Organization: University of Chicago
  • Offers certificate: Yes

A free neurobiology course designed to be accessible to as many people as possible , with a more focused approach on the practical consequences of the neuronal processes that govern our behavior.

11.The Neuroscience of Vision

  • Organization: MIT
  • Offers certificate: Yes

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the most famous and recognized universities in the world, organizes this very interesting course on neuroscience applied to the visual processing system. A good part of what we feel and think is related to how we see the world (literally), and this training option gives you all the tools to train in the fascinating world of images as your brain understands them.

12.Computational Neuroscience

  • Organization: University of Washington
  • Offers certificate: Yes

Computer science and the use of algorithms can also be very useful in understanding how our nervous system in general and the human brain in particular work. This is a well-supplied applied course of exercises to gain experience in this fascinating discipline.