The goal of cognitive neuroscience is to understand how the physical mechanisms of the brain give rise to the functions of the mind. The emergence of this new field represents the convergence of two disciplines that, over the past several decades, have functioned relatively independently of one another, with neuroscientists focusing on the brain, and psychologists on the mind. The recent convergence of their efforts has occurred as the result of remarkable new developments in technologies for investigating the functioning brain: (1): We can manipulate specific genes that regulate neural development and function, and determine what effect such manipulations have on behavior. (2): We are now able to record the activity of multiple individual brain cells as an animal performs a complex task. (3): We can now measure regional brain activity in normal, conscious human subjects while they perform cognitive tasks. (4): We can use dramatic increases in computing power to simulate the functioning of neural networks, which allows us to analyze their behavior and better understand how they give rise to cognitive processes. These new methods are likely to produce dramatic advances in our understanding of the brain mechanisms that allow us to learn and remember, reason and solve problems, and make decisions that are affected by both thought and emotion.

The fundamental goal of the Center for the Study of Brain, Mind, and Behavior (CSBMB) is to establish an integrated continuum of research on the relationship of brain and mind. In pursuing this scientific mission, the CSBMB embraces a multi-disciplinary, multi-methodological, and multi-institutional approach that draws on expertise and advances in mathematics, physics, chemistry, molecular biology, neuroscience, and psychology. The specific scientific focus of CSBMB research is on the neural bases of higher mental functions; that is, the brain mechanisms by which memory, thought and action are integrated and controlled by higher level goals, and modulated by states of arousal, motivation, and emotion. These mechanisms of integration, control and modulation are central to higher mental processes, such as our ability to direct attention, hold information in short term memory or retrieve it from long term memory, reason through a problem, make complex decisions, and plan a course of future action. By capitalizing on its existing strengths in the areas of attention, memory, reasoning, and decision making, the CSBMB seeks to be a leader in basic cognitive neuroscientific research on higher mental function.

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