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.

---

neuroscience British  

/ ˈnjʊərəʊˌsaɪəns /

noun

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

---

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

“From a neuroscience stance, when you go through something so intense with others, bonding chemicals are activated in your brain, and it’s beneficial for human mental and physical health in a lot of ways.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

When they got together, Amodei was still an academic, working as a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University School of Medicine, having earned his Ph.D. in computational neuroscience from Princeton.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

This has eluded neuroscience for decades, but the introduction of a new class of drugs for weight loss may have given us just the lever we need to understand it.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Professor Ciara McCabe is a neuroscience, psychopharmacology, and mental health expert at the University of Reading.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

He doesn’t trust himself to be disciplined, and he says some fundamental neuroscience has emerged to support his fears.

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

It has been spearheaded by neurosurgeon Paul Brennan, of NHS Lothian's department of clinical neurosciences, and Race Against Dementia Fellow Dr Claire Durrant of the University of Edinburgh.

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

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

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

Dr. Itai Danovitch, chairman of the psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said patients were experiencing twin worries from the pandemic and the holidays.

From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2021

Evolving research in the neurosciences and psychology underscores the value and benefit of these messages, especially if they are handwritten, for sender and receiver alike.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2020