Brain Science

Discovery for a New Era

Imagine a world in which people with paralysis can move again, in which sight can be restored.

Imagine a world in which autism and Alzheimer’s are fully treatable.

Imagine a world in which the brain functions that make us human are understood.

This is the world that the more than 100  scientists at the Brown Institute for Brain Science are building, one discovery at a time, through collaborative research.

• Steven Rasmussen, Benjamin Greenberg, and G. Rees Cosgrove are exploring how deep brain stimulation can help patients with intractable psychiatric illnesses. Such techniques could someday help many people with depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and other conditions.
• Diane Lipscombe, Julie Kauer, and Christopher Moore are mapping the nerve circuitry invoked by pain. Possible impact? Relief for those afflicted with chronic pain.
• John Donoghue, Leigh Hochberg, Arto Nurmikko, and others are building brain implants that enable individuals to control computer cursors—and, recently, a robotic arm—with just their thoughts. The dream, says Hochberg, is to “one day reconnect the brain to limb,” enabling the person with paralysis to move again.  

This is the most exciting time in brain science at Brown in 40 years.
— Steven Rasmussen, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

Imagining the Future

Funding for the Brown Institute for Brain Science will support the work of these and many other scientists at one of the world’s preeminent brain institutes. The potential payoff is immense: gifts will build on targeted investments, capitalize on the momentum created by recent breakthroughs, and catalyze the translation of discoveries into practical and effective treatments and innovations. Please contact John Perry for more information at +1 (401) 863-2413.