MIT 9.13 The Human Brain is an undergraduate course taught by Prof. Nancy Kanwisher, one of the leading figures in cognitive neuroscience. The lecture videos and notes are published for free on MIT OpenCourseWare.
What’s in it? Methods for studying the brain, face and scene perception, navigation, number, hearing and speech, music, language, understanding other minds, brain networks, and attention and awareness.
Why we recommend it: Kanwisher argues that the questions in this field are ones anyone can ask with no background at all, and the course is taught in that spirit, through real stories and experiments. It’s a good starting point for anyone curious about which part of the brain does what, and how we measure it. If you’ve read our EEG and fNIRS posts, you’ll also see where those methods sit in the bigger picture.
Who is it for? Anyone curious about neuroscience, whether they come from engineering or psychology.
- Course page: MIT OCW, 9.13 The Human Brain