Knowing Neurons

What Knowing Neurons does

Knowing Neurons is a U.S.-based nonprofit science communication organization founded in 2013 by UCLA neuroscience graduate students. It publishes free editorial content about the brain and nervous system, including articles organized into categories such as fundamentals, health, cognition, and science policy, alongside visual infographics, a podcast distributed on Spotify and YouTube, curated book recommendations, and expert interviews. The platform extends accessibility through translation projects that maintain dedicated subdomain sites in Spanish, German, Turkish, Arabic, and Italian.

Beyond content, the organization runs structured programs: the annual NeuroPolicy Paper Competition for early-career neuroscientists, science communication workshops at universities including UCLA and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Brain Awareness Week activities in partnership with UCLA Brain Research Institute and Hisar School in Istanbul, and curriculum-aligned lesson plans developed with UCLA's Spanish and Neuroscience departments for high school classrooms. Outreach partners include the National Science Policy Network and CELL Scholars at UCLA.

The operating model is volunteer-led with no disclosed paid headcount or formal incorporation details. Revenue comes from Patreon donations and grant funding, notably the Society for Science STEM Action Grant which sponsors the NeuroPolicy Paper Competition prize pool. The underlying technology is a WordPress-based content management system with multilingual site infrastructure and social media distribution across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Spotify. There are no disclosed investors, funding rounds, M&A activity, or institutional ownership.

Name

Knowing Neurons

Legal name

Knowing Neurons

Website

https://knowingneurons.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Knowing Neurons is a UCLA-affiliated nonprofit that publishes free neuroscience articles, infographics, and podcasts in five-plus languages, serving general audiences, students, and educators through Patreon donations and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Science Communication / Educational Content

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Workshops, Webinars & Live Masterclasses (MPACALAD)

Keywords

• Neuroscience education
• Science communication
• Multilingual content publishing
• Science outreach
• Educational podcasting

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Patreon Membership/Donations: The organization operates primarily as a free educational platform supported by Patreon donations. Supporters receive recognition on the Wall of Thanks and access to community engagement.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Knowing Neurons publishes free, plain-language neuroscience educational content — articles, infographics, and a podcast — covering brain fundamentals, health, cognition, science policy, and emerging topics like AI and philosophy. It extends reach through multilingual translation into Spanish, German, Turkish, Arabic, and Italian, and runs outreach programs including lesson plans, an annual NeuroPolicy Paper Competition, expert interviews, curated book recommendations, and science communication workshops.

Product overview

Knowing Neurons is a neuroscience education platform operated by UCLA-affiliated volunteers that publishes articles, infographics, podcasts, and organizes outreach programs. The core offerings consist of written articles organized by topic (fundamentals, health, cognition, science policy, beyond) and visual infographics. The platform extends reach through multilingual translation projects (Spanish, German, Arabic, Turkish, Italian), an annual NeuroPolicy Paper Competition for early-career scientists, science communication workshops and Brain Awareness Week events, and curriculum-aligned lesson plans for high school students. Additional content includes book recommendations and expert interviews. The platform operates primarily on a free, publicly accessible basis with funding through Patreon.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Articles Written neuroscience content published regularly on knowingneurons.com, covering fundamentals (Neuro Primer, Brain Basics), health (Aging, Brain Development, Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders, Movement, Sleep), cognition (Learning and Memory, Sensation and Perception), science policy, and beyond (Artificial Intelligence, Big Ideas, Consciousness, Neuro News, Neuro SciFi, Philosophy).
• Infographics Visual educational infographics including collections such as A Close Up Look, 52 Brain Facts, Weird Animal Brains, and What's Inside a Neuron, designed for science communication and classroom sharing.
• Podcast Audio podcast exploring neuroscience topics, available on Spotify and YouTube, with content drawn from the platform's editorial pipeline.
• Multilingual Translation Projects Translation of core neuroscience articles into Spanish, German, Turkish, Arabic, and Italian via dedicated language subdomain sites, with the Spanish Translation Project run in collaboration with UCLA Spanish and Portuguese Departments.
• NeuroPolicy Paper Competition Annual competition inviting early-career neuroscientists to submit short-form policy papers on neuroscience topics, funded by the Society for Science STEM Action Grant with prize money awarded to top entries and a fan favorite.
• Outreach Events and Workshops In-person science communication workshops and Brain Awareness Week activities held at partner universities and schools, targeting middle and high school students as well as undergraduate participants.
• Lesson Plans Guided educational materials for high school classrooms covering neuroscience topics, developed in partnership with UCLA Spanish and Neuroscience departments, including bilingual Spanish-English lesson plans piloted with seventh graders.
• Brain Books Curated library of neuroscience book recommendations including textbooks, neuroanatomy books, and general interest titles with reviews.
• Interviews Q&A-format conversations with neuroscientists, authors, and science policy experts published as standalone content on the platform.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Hisar School, IstanbulminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Hisar School in Istanbul partnered with Knowing Neurons for Brain Awareness Week 2024 activities. Turkish Translation Project student leaders organized sheep brain dissection, interactive workshops, and Brain Bee competitions for high school students.
• National Science Policy NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023National Science Policy Network provides sponsorship and support for Knowing Neurons science communication workshops held at universities including UCLA and University of Alabama at Birmingham. The partnership enables workshop programming for undergraduate students on science communication skills.
• UCLA Brain Research InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023UCLA Brain Research Institute partners with Knowing Neurons for annual Brain Awareness Week activities. The partnership involves co-hosting educational events for middle school students and supporting science outreach programs.
• CELL Scholars at UCLAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaboration with CELL Scholars program to deliver science communication workshops at University High School in Los Angeles. Joint workshops cover STEM careers and science writing for general audiences.
• University of Alabama at BirminghamminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partnership with UAB to host science communication workshop featuring Dr. Farah Lubin as speaker. Workshop targeted underrepresented undergraduate students and provided writing opportunities for Knowing Neurons.
• UCLA Graduate Programs in BiosciencesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Co-sponsored UCLA's first Science Outreach Symposium in November 2022, organized and hosted by Knowing Neurons leadership. Event celebrated science outreach groups and promoted diversity in STEM.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Frontiers for Young Minds: Open-access science journal written for and reviewed by younger audiences, with kid-friendly neuroscience articles — closely aligned with Knowing Neurons' mission to make science accessible to students and the general public.
• Neuroscience News: Online neuroscience content platform publishing accessible articles on brain research, AI, and neurological disorders — directly competes for the same lay-audience neuroscience readership.
• Massive Science: Science communication platform featuring articles and podcasts by active researchers — shares Knowing Neurons' model of researcher-led accessible science content and community-driven publishing.
• BrainFacts.org: Society for Neuroscience's public-facing neuroscience education platform offering articles, videos, and podcasts on brain science to general audiences — directly comparable to Knowing Neurons in mission, format, and audience.

Broad incumbents

• IFLScience: Large popular-science media site covering topics including the brain and neuroscience — competes for the same curious-layperson audience but with significantly broader scope and commercial scale.
• Live Science: Major science news site with robust neuroscience coverage aimed at a general audience — comparable in delivery model (web-first, multimedia) though far broader in editorial scope.
• Scientific American (Mind & Brain section): Established science publication with a dedicated Mind & Brain vertical covering accessible neuroscience content — overlaps substantially with Knowing Neurons' subject matter and audience.
• Psychology Today: Well-known publication offering accessible content on the brain, cognition, and behavior — overlaps with Knowing Neurons' cognition, brain development, and health categories.

Emerging players

• The Conversation: Nonprofit news platform featuring articles written by academics for a general audience — comparable model of researcher-authored accessible science content, with similar multilingual ambitions via international editions.
• NeuWrite San Diego: University-affiliated neuroscience science communication group producing accessible content — shares Knowing Neurons' UCLA-style academic-volunteer model and mission to bridge neuroscience research and public audiences.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/knowingneurons
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCiZ9xtYa8Lq58OtvhulAJuQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/KnowingNeurons
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/knowingneurons
• Instagraminstagram.com/KnowingNeurons
• TikToktiktok.com/@knowing.neurons

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Knowing Neurons