A computer graphic rendering of blue and white connected neurons floating in a black space.

About

Solving the Brain’s Greatest Mysteries

Understanding how the brain works is one of the biggest puzzles left for science to solve. At the Carnegie Mellon Neuroscience Institute, we are unlocking the secrets of the mind through bold research, innovative technologies and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Who We Are

Founded in September 2018, the Neuroscience Institute is affiliated with Mellon College of Science and the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. We unite faculty, students and researchers from across CMU — spanning psychology, biology, computer science, engineering, statistics and more — to advance brain science and its real-world applications.

Our Mission

Carnegie Mellon is an international leader in neuroscience, driving transformative discoveries that improve lives and deepen our understanding of cognition, behavior and brain health.

Two monitors showing the brain during a MRI scanning.

Research

We integrate cognitive science, computation, data science, biology and engineering to study brain function in healthy and diseased states.

Technology

We invent and apply next-generation neural tools and technologies to explore and enhance brain function.

Collaboration

We break down disciplinary boundaries to tackle fundamental questions in neuroscience through team-based science.

Kate Hong in a lab watching a young male student doing some experiments, both wearing white lab coats.

Education

We train future leaders with cross-disciplinary expertise, preparing them to solve tomorrow’s challenges.

Outreach

We engage the public to share the importance of brain research and highlight the unique contributions of CMU’s Neuroscience Institute.

Contacts

Boldness

The courage to take risks and challenge convention

Innovation

A creative atmosphere that fosters impactful discovery

Teamwork

An interdisciplinary culture that nurtures the sharing of ideas and knowledge

Inclusivity

A respectful environment that values and supports all faculty, staff and students

Diversity

Strength in different backgrounds, viewpoints and experiences

Ethics

Recognition of the responsibility implicit in our work

Exterior view of the Mellon Institute building. — **1956** Logic Theorist Herb Simon, Alan Newell and J.C. Shaw create the first AI program
**1962** Psychology Department at CMU refocuses on cognitive research
**1969** Raj Reddy joins CMU
**1975** Herb Simon and Alan Newell receive the Turing Award

A collage of pictures of brain xrays along side a picture of Peter Strick and Jay McClelland, the founders of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. Peter is on the left and is wearing a tan tweed suite with a red necktie. He is wearing oval, wire-framed glasses and has a blonde and grey colored handlebar mustache. His hair is also blonde and gray, and is combed back. Jay is standing to his right and is wearing a creme-colored suite with a black necktie with red and gold pinstripes. He has a full gre — **1978** Herb Simon wins Nobel Prize in Economics
**1983** SOAR (State, operator and result) cognitive architecture begins
**1987** Raj Reddy named president of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence
**1994** Center for the Basis of Neural Cognition launches with $12M from Richard King Mellon Foundation

An artist's drawing of two mice juggling balls as they spin around on a record player. — **2001** Marlene Behrmann receives American Psychological Association Early Career Award
**2002** Alison Barth creates fos-GFP mice model
**2003** Sheldon Cohen links emotional style to cold susceptibility
**2008** Neural Computation Ph.D. launches
**2010** Scientific Imaging and Brain Research Center opens with 3T Verio MRI

Stylized graphic of a human brain overlaid on a circuit board background, with binary digits (0 and 1) arranged in circular patterns, symbolizing the intersection of neuroscience and digital technology. — **2011** John Anderson is awarded Benjamin Franklin Medal
**2013** Lori Holt wins the National Academy of Sciences’ Troland Award
**2014** CMU launches the BrainHub Initiative
**2015** Dr. William D. and Nancy W. Strecker Career Development Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Maysam Chamaznar hired
**2015** Biomedical Engineering Professor Jana Kainerstorfer hired

Barbara Shinn-Cunningham stands in front of a white background and looks into the camera. — **2016** Computational Biology Assistant Professor Andreas Pfenning hired
**2016** Computational Biology Associate Professor Ruslan Salakhutdinov hired
**2017** Russell V. Trader Career Development Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering Rahul Panat hired
**2018** Barbara Shinn-Cunningham is hired to lead Neuroscience Institute
**2019** Neuroscience Institute launches to lead transformative brain research

A picture of Aryn Gittis sitting at a workspace in a laboratory setting. Aryn has long curly medium-brown hair just below the shoulders. She is wearing a women's business suit with a dark cardigan sweater. Various computer and laboratory equipment is behind her. — **2021** Systems Neuroscience Ph.D. launches
**2025** Aryn Gittis is named the Dr. Frederick A. Schwertz Distinguished Professorship of Life Sciences
**2025** Timothy Verstynen receives the 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship
**2025** Steven Chase is elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows
**2025** Xaq Pitkow becomes a collaborator on the Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience, a 10-year-$80M AI and neuroscience initiative

Sossena Wood presents a new technology to treat psychiatric conditions to a room full of people, who are watching and taking notes.

Join Us

Whether you’re a student, researcher or supporter, there’s a place for you at CMU’s Neuroscience Institute. Explore opportunities to study, collaborate or give — and be a part of the future of brain science.

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