Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute

Last updated

The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (HWNI) at the University of California, Berkeley was created in 1997 as the Center for Neuroscience. It was renamed in 2000, in recognition of the $10 million bequest from tennis champion and Berkeley alumna Helen Wills, who won 31 Grand Slam titles, including 19 in singles. [1] [2]

Contents

History

The Berkeley Neuroscience Center (BNC) was created in 1997 under the leadership of Professors Carla Shatz and Corey Goodman, who served as the first two Directors from 1997–2001. Neuroscience professors in departments across campus were invited to recruit new core faculty and accept graduate students into their labs for training. A $10 million bequest from Olympic gold medalist and 8-time Wimbledon champion Helen Wills Moody endowed the graduate program and provided cash support to grow the Center. On July 1, 2000, it was formally renamed the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (HWNI). The Neuroscience PhD Program opened its first class in Fall 2001. At any time there are approximately 60 graduate students in the department.

The institute encompasses over 70 research faculty from many disciplines: Molecular & Cellular Biology, Psychology, Integrative Biology, Vision Science, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Physics, and Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Haas School of Business, College of Chemistry, School of Public Health, Department of Bioengineering. The institute supports four general subdivisions within neuroscience: Cellular, Cognitive, Developmental, Molecular, and Systems.

Research centers

The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute currently houses four research centers each with a unique focus on elucidating the functions of the brain.

Brain Imaging Center

The Henry H. "Sam" Wheeler Jr. Brain Imaging Center (BIC) headed by Jack Gallant and Chunlei Liu houses one of the most powerful human research functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) systems in the United States. The 3 tesla magnet allows for research collaboration in functional neuroimaging among diverse fields. Data are analyzed at the Judy & John Webb Neuroimaging Computational Facility, also on the Berkeley campus.

Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience

The Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience became a part of the HWNI on July 1, 2005 after the dissolution of the nonprofit scientific research facility, the Redwood Neuroscience Institute (RNI), once housed in Menlo Park, California. The RNI was established by Jeff Hawkins in August, 2002. Many of the researchers from the RNI joined the University as faculty or staff, and the institute was renamed the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. Through the use of various electro- and magnetophysiological techniques, this group hopes to discover an underlying biological mathematics model of memory and cognition.

Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences

The Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences (ICBS) became part of the HWNI in September 2009. The ICBS supports research exploring the study of the mind and the biological basis of behavior and mental function. Founded as the Institute for Cognitive Studies in 1984, ICBS adopted its current name in 2000 in recognition of the emergence of cognitive neuroscience as a field for the bi-directional study of mind-brain relationships.

Center for Neural Engineering & Prostheses

CNEP, led by co-directors Jose Carmena (UCB) and Edward Chang (UCSF) brings together neuroscientists, neurologists, and engineers from UC Berkeley and UCSF to develop breakthrough technologies to restore neural function. CNEP is a non-profit, research-based organization which seeks apply it innovations in common medical practice.

Directors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cognitive neuroscience</span> Scientific field

Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific field that is concerned with the study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain which are involved in mental processes. It addresses the questions of how cognitive activities are affected or controlled by neural circuits in the brain. Cognitive neuroscience is a branch of both neuroscience and psychology, overlapping with disciplines such as behavioral neuroscience, cognitive psychology, physiological psychology and affective neuroscience. Cognitive neuroscience relies upon theories in cognitive science coupled with evidence from neurobiology, and computational modeling.

The Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study brings together researchers from many disciplines to study the phenomenon known as the mind. A unit of George Mason University, the Krasnow Institute also serves as a center for doctoral education in neuroscience. Research at the institute is funded by agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense.

Neuroinformatics is the emergent field that combines informatics and neuroscience. Neuroinformatics is related with neuroscience data and information processing by artificial neural networks. There are three main directions where neuroinformatics has to be applied:

Developmental cognitive neuroscience is an interdisciplinary scientific field devoted to understanding psychological processes and their neurological bases in the developing organism. It examines how the mind changes as children grow up, interrelations between that and how the brain is changing, and environmental and biological influences on the developing mind and brain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carla J. Shatz</span> American neuroscientist

Carla J. Shatz is an American neurobiologist and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine.

The Gruber Prize in Neuroscience, established in 2004, is one of three international awards worth US$500,000 made by the Gruber Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher deCharms</span>

Dr. Christopher deCharms is a neuroscientist, author, and inventor. Currently, Dr. deCharms is the founder and CEO of Brainful, a life-sciences companies focused on neurotechnology, including technology based on imaging methods that allow people to watch the activation of their own brains 'live' using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Neville</span> American psychologist & scholar

Helen J. Neville was a Canadian psychologist and neuroscientist known internationally for her research in the field of human brain development.

Arthur Paul Shimamura was a professor of psychology and faculty member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focused on the neural basis of human memory and cognition. He received his BA in experimental psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1977 and his PhD in cognitive psychology from the University of Washington in 1982. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Larry Squire, where he studied amnesic patients. In 1989, Shimamura began his professorship at UC Berkeley. He has published over 100 scientific articles and chapters, was a founding member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and has been science advisor for the San Francisco Exploratorium science museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition</span>

The Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition or LIBC is an interfaculty center for interdisciplinary research on brain and cognition in the Netherlands. The Leiden University Medical Center and the Faculties of Humanities, Science and Social Behavioural Sciences of Leiden University participate in the LIBC. The LIBC research programs are presented in laboratories. There are different laboratories for all stages of the life span.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to brain mapping:

Center for Vital Longevity (CVL) is a research center of the University of Texas at Dallas. CVL houses scientists studying the cognitive neuroscience of aging and ways to maintain cognitive health for life. Researchers at the CVL also investigate how to slow cognitive aging and methods for the early detection of age-related neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. Other research includes studies investigating the cognitive neuroscience of memory, and other fundamental cognitive processes.

Randy L. Buckner is an American neuroscientist and psychologist whose research focuses on understanding how large-scale brain circuits support mental function and how dysfunction arises in illness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton Neuroscience Institute</span>

The Princeton Neuroscience Institute (PNI) is a center for neuroscience research at Princeton University. Founded in the spring of 2004, the PNI serves as a "stimulus for teaching and research in neuroscience and related fields" and "places particular emphasis on the close connection between theory, modeling, and experimentation using the most advanced technologies." It often partners with Princeton University's departments of Psychology and Molecular Biology.

Marla Beth Feller is the Paul Licht Distinguished Professor in Biological Sciences and Member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. She studies the mechanisms that underpin the assembly of neural circuits during development. Feller is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and member of the National Academy of Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Stryker</span> American neuroscientist

Michael Paul Stryker is an American neuroscientist specializing in studies of how spontaneous neural activity organizes connections in the developing mammalian brain, and for research on the organization, development, and plasticity of the visual system in the ferret and the mouse.

Beatriz Luna is a developmental neuroscientist known for conducting neuroimaging research on the development of cognitive control, reward, and reinforcement learning from early childhood to adolescence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucina Uddin</span> American neuroscientist

Lucina Q. Uddin is an American cognitive neuroscientist who is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research investigates the relationship between brain connectivity and cognition in typical and atypical development using network neuroscience approaches.

Richard B. Ivry is an American cognitive neuroscientist. He is a currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and a founding member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. Ivry previously served as chair of the university's Department of Psychology and director of its Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences. According to the Association for Psychological Science, Ivry's "seminal research program has transformed how we understand perception and action."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Berman</span> American psychiatrist and physician-scientist

Karen Faith Berman is an American psychiatrist and physician-scientist who is a senior investigator and chief of the section on integrative neuroimaging, the psychosis and cognitive studies section, and the clinical and translational neuroscience branch of the National Institute of Mental Health's division of intramural research.

References

  1. Curtis, Jake (August 5, 2023). "The Cal 100: No. 3 -- Helen Wills". Cal Sports Report. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 8, 2024 via FanNation.
  2. "Helen Wills: An International Sensation That Began at the 1926 French Open". Intercollegiate Tennis Association. May 31, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.

37°52′27″N122°15′50″W / 37.874157°N 122.263925°W / 37.874157; -122.263925