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Health, Sports & Psychology
How FMRI works
Functional magnetic resonance imaging is a technique for measuring brain activity, but how does it work?
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History & The Arts
A brief history of evolution
Where are we now along the evolutionary path? Have we stopped evolving? And what does it mean if we have?
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Turning face perception on its head
Are you pretty good at reading an expression? Can you recognise a face in a crowd? Watch the video of the 'Head Spin Trick'
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Science, Maths & Technology
Addiction and neural ageing
This free course, Addiction and neural ageing, takes its title from two topics that are of immense worldwide social, economic, ethical, and political importance. You will develop a Master's level approach to the study of specific issues within these two important subject areas.
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Education & Development
Play, learning and the brain
This free course, Play, learning and the brain, examines the area of brain-based learning, with a particular focus on the development of the young child's brain, and is of particular relevance to those who work with young children. We begin by looking at the structure and functions of the brain, and the impact that sensory deprivation can have on these. We consider the implications of current understandings of brain development for teaching and learning, particularly in an early years setting, and finish by exploring the value of play (particularly outdoor play) in children's learning and the development of their brains.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
What is Alzheimer's disease?
It looms over many of our lives, but what is Alzheimer's disease? Here's a guide:
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Languages
Can talking two languages keep your brain healthy?
Around the world, the ability to switch between languages is common - and possibly innate. Gaia Vance asks if monoglots are missing out on something important.
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Society, Politics & Law
Attention
What does 'attention' mean to you? This free course, Attention, will help you to examine how we 'pay attention'. How do we manage to single out sounds and images that require attention and how easy is it to distract someone and why.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Hospital: Preparing for surgery
The Hospital team meet patients, staff and carers preparing for surgery, in these clips from the BBC/OU co-produced series.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
How do you spot a stroke - and what should you do?
If a stroke is suspected, you need to act FAST. Here's why - and what you should do.
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Money & Business
OpenLearn Live: 5th December 2016
The banker who lives on as a great detective; Sherlock's mind palace in our own heads; and a little Japanese for the Twitter era. Learning and research from across the day.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
What happens to our brains when we're afraid - and can that help us overcome fear?
Research into brain activity when we're scared may point the way to overcoming fear.