MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Research

The department aims to understand the basic processes of intelligence and the brain. It has four main themes of research:

Molecular and cellular neuroscience

This deals with the biology of neurons and cellular physiology.

Systems neuroscience

This deals with developing models of cognitive processes at the neural level. This includes developing algorithms and mathematical models of neural activity.

Cognitive science

This engages in the research of mind through the interdisciplinary approaches of psychology, computer science, mathematics, and linguistics for the experimental analysis and mathematical modeling of cognitive processes. The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences works in collaboration with the McGovern Institute and the Picower Institute, also at the MIT.

Computation

This deals with the development of theoretical models that explain the processes of memory, language and reasoning using computer simulations and computational models.

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences works in close collaboration with the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Computer Science department and the Center for Biological and Computational Learning at MIT.