On the Jerome Greene Science Center

The new Science Center will bring psychology into closer proximity with those doing related research at the Health Sciences campus. In concrete terms, what it means for cognitive neuroscientists like myself is closer collaboration with researchers at the Mahoney Center working on the systems neuroscience of attention in animal models, in psychiatry and neurology working on the neuroscience of psychopathology, aging, Parkinson's, neurodegenerative disorders, and drug abuse, and in radiology working on methods and applications for imaging the thinking human brain. So there is great potential for synergy and the strengthening of collaborations that are forming or ongoing across the two campuses. The Center will also provide a state-of-the-art neuroimaging facility that will become a focus of methodological and neuroscientific development. In my view, the Center will bring together people with different backgrounds but a common goal in understanding the brain at the physiological and psychological levels of analysis. The need to interrelate physiology and psychology permeates all levels of neuroscience: researchers such as Eric Kandel and Richard Axel study molecules and proteins, but make inferences about memory and perception. Understanding how molecules, cells, and biological systems relate to percepts, concepts, expectations, and memories requires an understanding of phenomena at each level. Building these bridges, and understanding how they relate to mental health and well-being, is something my colleagues and I in psychology are really excited about.