Research interest on how the human mind works has a long history, but the relation between mind and brain has remained an attractive but unresolved issue. Modern advances in neuroscience and cognitive science have since the end of the last century broadened and deepened – from genes, molecules, nerve cells, brain systems, explicit behavior, even to implicit mental processes – our understanding on how information is represented and processed in human brain. For instance, new technologies detecting human brain activities make it possible for brain and mind researchers to investigate human cognition as well as emotion and volition, exploring topics on high-level brain functions such as personality, belief, esthetics, morality, self, and consciousness. Studies devoted along the line have thus enhanced our knowledge of how human mind works under normal and ill-functioning states, so as to develop new measures for detecting, diagnosing and treating mental illnesses. As described by Nobel laureate James Watson in 1992, “The brain is the last and grandest biological frontier, the most complex thing we have yet discovered in our universe”. Also as mentioned by another Nobel laureate Eric Kandel in 2004, “The biology of the mind will be as important scientifically to the 21st century as the biology of the gene was for the 20th century”. In 2009, Professor Kandel further addressed that “Understanding the biology of mental illness would be a paradigm shift in our thinking about mind……. it would also tell us more about who we are and how we function”. Furthermore, United States former president Barack Obama said in the Brain Initiative in 2013, “As humans, we can identify galaxies light-years away. We can study particles smaller than an atom. But we still haven't unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears”. Indeed, we are at a critical moment in studying brain and mind functions.
The Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center (NCSC) of National Taiwan University (NTU) was founded in October, 2005. Our center aims to bring together devoted NTU scholars for cutting-edge research and education on neuroscience and cognitive science, in hope to shed light on this very “last frontier for human being”. Members of NCSC come from various backgrounds, and are affiliated with different departments of NTU as well as with the NTU Hospital. Areas of specialization of these members range from basic neuroscience (e.g., anatomy, physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, molecular and cellular biology), clinical neuroscience (e.g., psychiatry, neurology, anesthesia, rehabilitation, etc.), cognitive science (e.g., philosophy, psychology, linguistics, anthropology, management, economics, sociology, law, literature and arts), and engineering and information science. This center is not only a multidisciplinary research center at the university level but also a home base for all neurosciences at NTU. Moreover, this center has also offered “Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Credit-Hour Program” since 2006. This program has coordinated to streamline more than 100 neuroscience and cognitive science-related courses on campus and to better prepare NTU undergraduate students to become future scholars devoted to brain and mind research. Thus, it is hoped that NCSC-initiated research and NCSC-sponsored academic events can be instrumental for NTU to bind together various lines of research, basic or applied, on brain and mind. Through sharing ideas and substantial collaboration, scholars involved can start bona-fide conversations across disciplines so as to create a new horizon in the brain and mind science in Taiwan. NCSC believes this new interdisciplinary effort can gain vitality as it is nourished by our unique social and cultural contexts. It is also hoped that NCSC will provide a rare opportunity for brain-and-mind related research can build our own unique path by going beyond the western footsteps, enabling NTU to enjoy its leading position of academic excellence, in theory and in practice.
Accordingly, the missions of this center includes:
To promote and integrate NTU research in neurobiology and cognitive science.
To sponsor the Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Credit-Hour Program and special courses for the promotion of undergraduate training at NTU.
To coordinate and facilitate academic exchanges and collaborations for national and international scholars in neurobiology and cognitive science.
To organize and support national or international symposium on neurobiology and cognitive science.