neuroscience

American  

[noor-oh-sahy-uhns, nyoor-] / ˌnʊər oʊˈsaɪ əns, ˌnjʊər- /

noun

neurosciences plural

1. the field of study encompassing the various scientific disciplines dealing with the structure, development, function, chemistry, pharmacology, and pathology of the nervous system.

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neuroscience British  

/ ˈnjʊərəʊˌsaɪəns /

noun

1. the study of the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology of the nervous system

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• neuroscientist
  noun
• neuroscientific
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• neurosciences
  plural

Etymology

Origin of neuroscience

First recorded in 1960–65; neuro- + science

Explanation

Neuroscience is the study of the brain and the nervous system. If you're interested in the way human brains work, you might want to study neuroscience. The scientific field of neuroscience started out as a branch of biology, although people have been fascinated with the brain at least since ancient Egyptians studied the effects of drilling small holes in the skull to treat mental disorders. Today neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field, involving chemistry, linguistics, and genetics, among many other disciplines. Neuroscience has roots in the Greek neuro, "nerve," and Latin scientia, "knowledge."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

neuroscience neurosciences

Solid growth in sales of drugs for cancer and neuroscience helped offset a decline in sales of immunology drugs caused by copycat competition for the psoriasis drug Stelara, said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

The achievement reflects a broader transformation in neuroscience, where progress increasingly depends as much on engineering and computation as on biology.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Ipsen’s chief business officer, Philippe Lopes-Fernandes, said the company is working on deals to continue to build its existing franchises in oncology, rare diseases and neuroscience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

At the center of the comparison is the prediction paradigm, one of the dominant theories in modern neuroscience.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 1, 2026

The increasingly sophisticated tools of neuroscience have something pointed to say about that.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

The committee recommended that the HBP should re-evaluate and more sharply articulate its scientific goals, as well as re-integrate cognitive and systems neurosciences into its core programme.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 24, 2023

After being woken from the coma, he was transferred to the hospital's high dependency ward, before spending five months on the neurosciences Bluebell ward.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2022

Over its 11-year span, the campaign raised $215 million for pediatric cancer, $125 million for the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, $147 million for neurosciences and $450 million in endowment funds.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 3, 2022

There is a distinction between reasonable fear and anxiety that becomes disproportionate and all-consuming, said Dr. Itai Danovitch, the chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

From New York Times ● Dec. 20, 2021

But when one turns to animal sciences, human biology, or neurosciences, we see very few conclusive answers to how control and communication occur.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2020