Center for Behavioral Neuroscience

the tremendous strides made by center members in research and education that will have lasting impact on the field of neuroscience for decades to come. Research: Our researchers use cutting-edge techniques from brain imaging to molecular methods; they have identified a brain chemical that could have implications in treating autism; pioneered new methods to diagnose and treat post traumatic stress disorder; examined brain signaling systems related to obesity; and determined the genetic sequence of an antimicrobial protein found in the ink of a common sea slug -- a protein that could be used in the development of new products to prevent or kill damaging microbes and save the marine and healthcare industries billions of dollars each year. When evaluated by the National Science Foundation, the Center was found to be "a model for the ex*****on of science." Education: Through programs such as our Brain Camps for middle school, Institute on Neuroscience for high school, and BRAIN for undergraduates, we have created a unique pipeline approach to educating and training the next generation of neuroscientists. The National Science Foundation has lauded the Center's public education program as "truly impressive in bringing science to the people." History of the CBN: The Center for Behavioral Neuroscience was established in 1998 by a grant from the Robert W. In November 1999, the Center became one of the National Science Foundation's Science and Technology Centers and expanded to include seven institutions in Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia State University, Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, and the three schools in the Atlanta University Center: Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College) and other community partner organizations. The CBN's original scientific focus was the neuroscience of social behaviors in the areas of affiliation, aggression, fear and reproduction and the emotional and regulatory processes that underlie them. In the intervening years, inclusion of additional behavioral neuroscientists at the participating institutions resulted in an expansion of the CBN's activities into the areas of memory, cognition, reward functions of the brain and positive emotional states. That process continues today as the CBN responds to the changing landscape of neuroscience and the evolving needs of its member institutions.