The Neurosciences Institute

The NSI was founded by Nobel Laureate Gerald M. Edelman in 1981 in New York City. It remained an active research center until shortly before his death in 2014.

In 1993, the NSI moved to San Diego, California—first into temporary quarters and then, in 1995, into a newly constructed complex on the campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). Designed by the firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, the three-building complex received much acclaim for its Modernist style and especially for an auditorium that became a favored venue for music and performing arts in the area. In October 2012, plagued by financial problems and as part of a sharp contraction in its research efforts, NSI moved into leased space in an office building in the village of La Jolla, several miles from its old location. Its former home, including the auditorium, formally became part of TSRI.

The institute's size varied considerably over the years of its existence. At its peak, it included three dozen PhD-level research scientists (called "Fellows") and a comparable research support staff. Following the 2012 contraction, fewer than half a dozen Ph.D.-level research scientists remained. This number dwindled in the year preceding Edelman's death.

History

NSI was established in 1981 as an independent entity on the campus of The Rockefeller University in New York City. In founding the institute, Edelman argued that the quest for fundamental understanding of brain functions was being impeded, at most existing institutions, by artificial barriers between scientific disciplines and by a reward structure that favored modest, incremental research rather than high-risk, high-payoff research. Edelman claimed that he would be able to break from this reward structure by securing private, unrestricted funding for research at NSI. However, he was mostly unsuccessful at this and NSI struggled financially throughout its existence.

In its very early years, the NSI sponsored conferences, workshops, and other activities for visiting scientists; these programs were generally organized around a focused research problem. More than 1000 scientists from 300 institutes and 24 countries visited the institute over its first two decades. NSI's financial problems in the decade before its 2012 contraction curtailed these activities, save for the Neurosciences Research Program meetings (see below).

In 1988, the NSI began its own program of research in theoretical and computational neurobiology. Carried out by a small group of resident Fellows, the program was designed to develop biologically based theories of higher brain functions. In 1993, following its relocation to San Diego, NSI added a program of experimental research, which would eventually include molecular, cellular, systems, and behavioral studies and would utilize flies, rodents, non-human primates, and humans.

In 2012, severe financial problems forced the NSI to vacate its San Diego complex, reduce its computational programs, and shut down its experimental and theoretical programs entirely. The three buildings constituting its former home were ceded to TSRI. What remained of NSI was housed, in the year immediately preceding Edelman's death, several miles away in rented office space in the La Jolla business district. NSI closed in 2018.