The field of neuroscience has “evolved” as an inter-disciplinarity of neurobiology, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and psychology, to focus upon the structure and function of nervous systems (in both human and non-human organisms). Growing from older iterations of experimental and physiological psychology, neuroscience initially addressed mechanisms of neural function as related to sensory and motor systems, learning and memory, cognition, and ultimately consciousness. These basic approaches fostered subsequent studies that were specifically relevant to medicine (e.g. neurology, psychiatry, and pain care), and, more recently, social practices (such as consumer behavior, and spiritual and religious practices and experiences).

In the United States, the congressionally dedicated Decade of the Brain (1990–2000) provided political incentive to support neuroscientific research with renewed intensity. As a result, significant discoveries were achieved in a variety of areas including neurogenetics, neuro- and psychopharmacology, and neuroimaging. This progress was not limited to the United States; rather, the Decade of the Brain served to provide a funding base that catalyzed international cooperation. We feel that this was the beginning of a “culture of neuroscience” that was created from, and continues to engage a world-wide “think tank” atmosphere that facilitates academic, medical, and technological collaboration, rapid scientific developments, and widely distributed effects in research, health care, and public life.

In addition, neuroscience has become a venue for the employment of cutting edge biotechnology that is extending the capabilities and boundaries of both investigation and intervention.