Ageing and The Brain: The Impact of Neurodegenerative Diseases (FutureLearn)

Ageing and The Brain: The Impact of Neurodegenerative Diseases (FutureLearn)

Learn what happens to the brain as neurodegenerative diseases progress and study the latest research on brain disorder prevention. Explore the challenges of treating and preventing neurodegenerative diseases. There is a distinct difference between normal brain ageing and a brain affected by a neurodegenerative disease. This course will show you how patients diagnosed with brain and neurological disorders are affected and consider the impact of neurodegenerative disorders on our society.

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Discover the causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatments of common brain disorders
Led by experts in neuroscience at the Complutense University of Madrid, you’ll explore the several specific neuropathological events that occur due to different brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis.
You’ll consider the available treatments currently available for these diseases and learn about new lines of research that are ongoing to combat neurodegenerative disorders.

Develop your understanding of brain health
As well as exploring the pathology of common brain disorders, you’ll also develop your knowledge of how normal ageing impacts the brain as you learn what cognitive reserve is and how lifestyle influences brain health.

What topics will you cover?

  • Basic concepts about aging and diseases, collecting information about neurodegenerative disorders and their impact on our society.
  • Normal aging, and its impact on the brain compared with a pathological disorder.
  • Organization of the nervous system, focusing on the main structures, types of cells and the way to transmit information.
  • Alzheimer´s disease, the most common neurodegenerative disorder. Knowing your symptoms as dementia and the possible treatments available.
  • Parkinson´s disease, a movement disorder with a plethora of disabling symptoms caused by selective neuronal death. Other examples of neurodegenerative disorders.
  • Multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in which the spinal cord is the area affected.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Distinguish the effects of normal aging versus pathological aging (including main events occurring in neurodegenerative disorders).
  • Identify the key components of the nervous system and understand how they work.
  • Understand which cells types of the central nervous system are affected in the main neurodegenerative disorders and why they die.
  • Distinguish the main symptoms and the origin of different neurodegenerative disorders.
  • Analyze the current therapeutic strategies against neurodegenerative diseases and the future perspectives.

Who is the course for?
The neuroscience course is designed for anyone interested in the study of neuroscience.
The course will be of particular interest to bioscience students, teachers, and healthcare professionals, as well as brain disorder patients and caregivers.
You do not require any neuroscience background knowledge to follow the course.

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