6 answers
Nadiya
Student
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
3
Questions
Asked
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“What subjects should I become strong in before studying neuroscience”?
I am a high school student interested in neuroscience, AI, and biomedical engineering, but I am still exploring which direction fits me best. I want to build useful skills before university and understand what professionals in these fields actually do. What subjects, skills, projects, experiences, and habits would you recommend me
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6 answers
Ali Hrasok
Enablement
7
Answers
Oley, Pennsylvania
Updated
Ali’s Answer
Hi! It's fantastic that you're thinking about which path fits you best. Keep in mind as you continue exploring that you don't have to pick just one lane! There are lots of ways that your areas of interest will overlap, and that is often the best outcome you can have.
As someone who studied neuroscience, I read a lot of research and started to look up the individuals who were doing work that interested me most. I would look them up, check out their career path, and find new areas of study to explore.
In terms of your skills, continue to work on things that are relevant for any degree:
- Stay curious about new developments in the field
- Practice time management and the way you learn best
- Get involved in professional groups relevant to your field of interest. That is also a great way to network with people who are doing the work!
You're asking all the right things. You'll be great in whatever direction you choose!
As someone who studied neuroscience, I read a lot of research and started to look up the individuals who were doing work that interested me most. I would look them up, check out their career path, and find new areas of study to explore.
In terms of your skills, continue to work on things that are relevant for any degree:
- Stay curious about new developments in the field
- Practice time management and the way you learn best
- Get involved in professional groups relevant to your field of interest. That is also a great way to network with people who are doing the work!
You're asking all the right things. You'll be great in whatever direction you choose!
Thank you so much!
Nadiya
Carolina Castañeda
analyst
2
Answers
Mexico City, Mexico
Updated
Carolina’s Answer
If you're studying biology and find yourself puzzled by topics like trees, try focusing on cellular and molecular biology. I highly recommend reading the Alberts book on molecular biology, which you can find online. Approach each chapter with curiosity and an open mind. You might also enjoy exploring genetics, so check out "Lewin's Genes." It's available in most university libraries, so there's no need to buy it.
Thank you for the advice, Carolina.
Nadiya
Ruchi Kashyap
Software developer
4
Answers
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Updated
Ruchi’s Answer
To prepare for neuroscience, AI, and biomedical engineering, focus on building strong foundations in calculus and linear algebra, learning Python programming (the universal language across all three fields), and understanding core principles of biology, physics, and chemistry. Professionals in these areas blend technical execution with scientific discovery, neuroscientists research brain function using empirical labs, AI specialists build and optimize complex neural algorithms, and biomedical engineers design physical medical technologies like brain-computer interfaces or prosthetics. As a high school student, the best habits to cultivate are daily coding practice, reading accessible scientific publications, and tackling beginner hands-on projects, such as building simple Arduino-based muscle-signal sensors or training basic machine learning models on Kaggle medical datasets.
Your advice was so helpful!
Nadiya
Sara Kazemi
Principal Technical Curriculum Developer
5
Answers
San Diego, California
Updated
Sara’s Answer
If you are looking for subjects you could study in high school that are adjacent to neuroscience: psychology, discrete mathematics, computer science are all highly relevant. You may be interested in Cognitive Science, which is a broad area of study that intersects all these interests. One university that offers this major is UC San Diego in the US: https://cogsci.ucsd.edu/people/index.html
Thank you for the advice, Sara.
Nadiya
Updated
Prasannapriya’s Answer
If you are interested in neuroscience, AI, and biomedical engineering, I would focus first on these subjects:
Biology: especially human biology, cell biology, genetics, anatomy, and physiology. These give you the foundation for understanding the brain and nervous system.
Chemistry: helpful for understanding neurotransmitters, medications, cellular processes, and biomedical research.
Math: build a strong foundation in algebra, calculus, probability, and statistics. Statistics becomes especially valuable when you start analyzing experimental or medical data.
Physics: particularly useful for biomedical engineering, medical imaging, electronics, and understanding how biological signals are measured.
Computer science: start learning Python. It is widely useful for programming, data analysis, AI, and scientific research.
Don't worry about mastering everything before college. Instead, try small projects that combine your interests. For example, you could use Python to analyze a public health or neuroscience dataset, build a simple machine-learning model, investigate how EEG signals are used to study brain activity, or design a basic biomedical-device concept.
I would also develop communication and research skills. Practice reading scientific papers, explaining complicated ideas in simple language, presenting your work, and documenting what you learn. Technical knowledge is important, but professionals also spend significant time collaborating, writing, presenting, and solving problems with others.
Finally, get exposure to the actual careers. Look for science fairs, robotics or coding clubs, university summer programs, volunteering opportunities, and conversations with neuroscientists, biomedical engineers, physicians, researchers, and AI professionals. Ask them what a normal week looks like, not just what their job title means.
Most importantly, pay attention to what you enjoy. If you love understanding how the brain works, neuroscience may pull you toward research or medicine. If you enjoy building things and solving physical problems, biomedical engineering may be a better fit. If you enjoy coding, mathematics, and working with data, AI or computational neuroscience could bring several of your interests together.
You don't need to have your career figured out now. Build strong fundamentals, experiment with real projects, stay curious, and let your experiences help you choose your direction.
Biology: especially human biology, cell biology, genetics, anatomy, and physiology. These give you the foundation for understanding the brain and nervous system.
Chemistry: helpful for understanding neurotransmitters, medications, cellular processes, and biomedical research.
Math: build a strong foundation in algebra, calculus, probability, and statistics. Statistics becomes especially valuable when you start analyzing experimental or medical data.
Physics: particularly useful for biomedical engineering, medical imaging, electronics, and understanding how biological signals are measured.
Computer science: start learning Python. It is widely useful for programming, data analysis, AI, and scientific research.
Don't worry about mastering everything before college. Instead, try small projects that combine your interests. For example, you could use Python to analyze a public health or neuroscience dataset, build a simple machine-learning model, investigate how EEG signals are used to study brain activity, or design a basic biomedical-device concept.
I would also develop communication and research skills. Practice reading scientific papers, explaining complicated ideas in simple language, presenting your work, and documenting what you learn. Technical knowledge is important, but professionals also spend significant time collaborating, writing, presenting, and solving problems with others.
Finally, get exposure to the actual careers. Look for science fairs, robotics or coding clubs, university summer programs, volunteering opportunities, and conversations with neuroscientists, biomedical engineers, physicians, researchers, and AI professionals. Ask them what a normal week looks like, not just what their job title means.
Most importantly, pay attention to what you enjoy. If you love understanding how the brain works, neuroscience may pull you toward research or medicine. If you enjoy building things and solving physical problems, biomedical engineering may be a better fit. If you enjoy coding, mathematics, and working with data, AI or computational neuroscience could bring several of your interests together.
You don't need to have your career figured out now. Build strong fundamentals, experiment with real projects, stay curious, and let your experiences help you choose your direction.
Ysmenia Perez
On Road Area Manager
5
Answers
Hamilton Township, New Jersey
Updated
Ysmenia’s Answer
Hi Nadiya, this is such a great question to be asking, and honestly the mix of neuroscience, AI, and biomedical engineering is a really exciting space right now — those three fields are increasingly overlapping, so building toward all of them at once is a smart move rather than a scattered one.
For subjects, the strongest foundation you can build is in biology, chemistry, physics, and math — and I'd especially push you on math. Calculus, statistics, and probability quietly sit underneath all three fields, so getting comfortable and even a little ahead there will pay off more than almost anything else. Biology and chemistry give you the language of the brain and the body, and physics helps you understand how instruments, signals, and imaging actually work. If your school offers any computer science, take it, because coding is fast becoming a core skill in neuroscience and biomedical research, not just in AI.
On the skills side, learning to program is the big one. Python is the most useful language to start with since it's used everywhere in AI, data analysis, and neuroscience research, and it's beginner-friendly. Alongside that, work on your ability to read and understand real science — getting used to how research papers are written, even if you only understand parts at first, will put you way ahead of most students. And don't underestimate writing and communication; being able to explain complex ideas clearly is something top scientists and engineers all share.
For projects and experiences, start small and hands-on. You could code a simple project that analyzes data, try a basic AI or machine learning tutorial, build a small electronics or Arduino project to get a feel for biomedical devices, or even just keep a journal of questions you have about how the brain works and try to research the answers. If you can, reach out to a local university, hospital, or lab and ask about shadowing, volunteering, or student programs — even one conversation with someone in the field can teach you a lot about what the work is really like. Online science communities and competitions are another great way to learn and meet people.
As for habits, the most valuable ones are curiosity and consistency. Read a little about your fields regularly, get comfortable being confused before things click, and learn to teach yourself using free resources. Some genuinely excellent free ones are Khan Academy for math and science, MIT OpenCourseWare for real university-level material, Harvard's CS50 on edX for an amazing intro to computer science, freeCodeCamp for coding practice, and Coursera and edX where you can audit real neuroscience and AI courses for free.
If I could leave you with one thing, it's this: you don't need to have it all figured out now. Just keep following what genuinely fascinates you, build small things, and stay consistent. Curiosity plus steady effort beats having a perfect plan every single time. You're clearly already thinking like a future scientist — keep going. 💪
For subjects, the strongest foundation you can build is in biology, chemistry, physics, and math — and I'd especially push you on math. Calculus, statistics, and probability quietly sit underneath all three fields, so getting comfortable and even a little ahead there will pay off more than almost anything else. Biology and chemistry give you the language of the brain and the body, and physics helps you understand how instruments, signals, and imaging actually work. If your school offers any computer science, take it, because coding is fast becoming a core skill in neuroscience and biomedical research, not just in AI.
On the skills side, learning to program is the big one. Python is the most useful language to start with since it's used everywhere in AI, data analysis, and neuroscience research, and it's beginner-friendly. Alongside that, work on your ability to read and understand real science — getting used to how research papers are written, even if you only understand parts at first, will put you way ahead of most students. And don't underestimate writing and communication; being able to explain complex ideas clearly is something top scientists and engineers all share.
For projects and experiences, start small and hands-on. You could code a simple project that analyzes data, try a basic AI or machine learning tutorial, build a small electronics or Arduino project to get a feel for biomedical devices, or even just keep a journal of questions you have about how the brain works and try to research the answers. If you can, reach out to a local university, hospital, or lab and ask about shadowing, volunteering, or student programs — even one conversation with someone in the field can teach you a lot about what the work is really like. Online science communities and competitions are another great way to learn and meet people.
As for habits, the most valuable ones are curiosity and consistency. Read a little about your fields regularly, get comfortable being confused before things click, and learn to teach yourself using free resources. Some genuinely excellent free ones are Khan Academy for math and science, MIT OpenCourseWare for real university-level material, Harvard's CS50 on edX for an amazing intro to computer science, freeCodeCamp for coding practice, and Coursera and edX where you can audit real neuroscience and AI courses for free.
If I could leave you with one thing, it's this: you don't need to have it all figured out now. Just keep following what genuinely fascinates you, build small things, and stay consistent. Curiosity plus steady effort beats having a perfect plan every single time. You're clearly already thinking like a future scientist — keep going. 💪
This was super helpful, thank you!
Nadiya