The Learning Brain

Course Overview

An award-winning professor of psychology provides scientifically proven study techniques to help you become a more adept learner.

Course No. 1569
Your brain is the most powerful computer on Earth – capable of storing lifetimes of information and mastering complex skills. In these 24 lectures, Professor Thad Polk reveals:

• Memory science: How explicit, implicit, and working memory function
• Optimal learning strategies: Why highlighting fails and what works better
• Neural mechanisms: The brain structures behind skill acquisition and language
• Performance factors: How sleep, stress, and motivation impact retention

Whether you’re learning calculus at 16 or a language at 60, these evidence-based methods will transform how you absorb and retain knowledge.

Video Lectures

Module 1: Memory Foundations

1. Learning 101 (31 min)

• Defining learning and course roadmap

1. What Amnesia Teaches Us (30 min)

• Henry Molaison’s case and memory systems

1. Neural Basis of Explicit Learning (31 min)

• Hippocampus to cortex: How memories form

Module 2: Effective Learning Strategies

7. Strategies for Explicit Learning (32 min)

• Why highlighting fails + 4 superior techniques

7. Skill Learning Strategies (30 min)

• Counterintuitive tips for sports/music mastery

7. Optimizing Your Learning (35 min)

• 5 proven strategies to enhance retention

Module 3: The Science Behind Skills

9. Unconscious Learning (32 min)

• Conditioning and non-associative learning

9. Psychology of Skill Learning (31 min)

• From shoelaces to expert performance stages

9. Neural Basis of Implicit Learning (31 min)

• Dopamine’s role in reward-based learning

Module 4: Memory in Action

4. Eyewitness Testimony (29 min)

• Why memories reconstruct rather than record

4. Working Memory (34 min)

• Phonological loops and mental whiteboards

4. Sleep & Learning (33 min)

• How sleep stages consolidate memories

Module 5: Influencing Factors

19. Motivation’s Role (30 min)

• Why interest boosts retention

19. Stress & Emotion (31 min)

• Vivid “flashbulb” memories explained

19. Aging & Learning (32 min)

• Maintaining cognitive function over time