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About the content
Learn the basic structure and function of the human nervous system, how nerve cells generate electrical signals and communicate, how they reshape their connections with use, and how neural systems integrate external and internal sensory signals to orchestrate action.
Syllabus
- Unit 1 Neuroanatomy. This unit covers the surface anatomy of the human brain, its internal structure, and the overall organization of sensory and motor systems in the brainstem and spinal cord.
- Unit 2 Neural signaling. This unit addresses the fundamental mechanisms of neuronal excitability, signal generation and propagation, synaptic transmission, post synaptic mechanisms of signal integration, and neural plasticity.
- Unit 3 Sensory systems. Here, you will learn the overall organization and function of the sensory systems that contribute to our sense of self relative to the world around us: somatic sensory systems, proprioception, vision, audition, and balance senses.
- Unit 4 Motor systems. The course concludes with a survey of the brain and spinal mechanisms that govern bodily movement.
Instructors
- Leonard White - Othropaedic Surgery, Neurobiology, Duke University School of Medicine; Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
Content Designer

Duke University is a private North American research university located in Durham, North Carolina. The university is named after the Duke dynasty.
Although the university was not officially founded until 1924 (its roots go back to 1838). Frequently referred to as the "Harvard of the South", Duke is the most selective university in the American South.
The university is a member of the Association of American Universities, an association which, since 1900, has brought together the elite research universities of North America.
Platform

Coursera is a digital company offering massive open online course founded by computer teachers Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller Stanford University, located in Mountain View, California.
Coursera works with top universities and organizations to make some of their courses available online, and offers courses in many subjects, including: physics, engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, data science, and other subjects.