What does neuroscience mean?
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system, especially the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. It brings together biology, anatomy, physiology, psychology, medicine, and other disciplines to examine how nervous-system activity supports sensation, movement, learning, memory, language, emotion, and thought. The word is used both for the field itself and for the knowledge it has produced: a scientist may work in neuroscience, while a report may summarize recent neuroscience. In public discussion, neuroscience often appears in connection with brain scans, mental health, artificial intelligence, education, and the biological basis of behaviour. Although it is sometimes used loosely to suggest that every aspect of the mind can be reduced to brain activity, the discipline itself includes behavioural, computational, and clinical approaches as well as molecular and cellular research. The term is therefore best understood as a broad field rather than a single method or speciality.
nounThe scientific study of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and the neural mechanisms underlying sensation, movement, cognition, and behaviour. The term may also refer to the body of knowledge produced by this field.
- The scientific study of the nervous system and its structure, functions, and relationships with behaviour and cognition.
- The collective body of knowledge and research concerning the nervous system.
"Researchers in cognitive neuroscience are investigating how the brain processes language and memory."
"A degree in neuroscience can prepare students for research, medicine, psychology, or technology."
"The findings in neuroscience have transformed how scientists understand memory, learning, and emotional processing."
Rare and less usual than the singular. It is used in plural to refer collectively to several related disciplines involving the nervous system.
"The conference brings together researchers from the biological, cognitive, and clinical neurosciences."
Neuroscience shows that even the most ordinary experiences depend on intricate patterns of electrical and chemical activity in the brain.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does neuroscience come from?
Neuroscience combines the combining form neuro-, derived from Greek neuron, meaning “nerve” or “nerve cell,” with science, from Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge.” The compound arose as scientific terminology expanded during the twentieth century, when the nervous system became a major focus of biological and medical research. Its relatives include neurology, neurobiology, neurophysiology, and neuroscientist, all of which share the same Greek-Latin foundation.
Related word forms
How neuroscience is actually used
Neuroscience is formal and academic, but widely used in education, medicine, and popular science. It is usually an uncountable singular; the plural neurosciences is uncommon and generally refers to a collection of related biological disciplines rather than to neuroscience as a single field.
Easily confused with neuroscience
Neurology is the medical branch concerned with diagnosing and treating disorders of the nervous system, whereas neuroscience is the broader scientific study of nervous-system structure and function.
Psychology studies the mind and behaviour, while neuroscience focuses specifically on the nervous system and its biological mechanisms.