The Greene Center, as it will be called will delve into the interrelationship of brain physiology biology and genetics, tying it all in with human behavior.

On Tuesdays I always pick up the New York Times with anticipation because I can’t wait to read the weekly science section. Two days ago, I came across a rather delightful article that I decided to share with you. The article, “N.Y.U. and Columbia to Receive $200 Million Gifts for Research” written by John Noble Wilford and Jonathan D. Glater revealed the good news of Columbia University having received over 200 million dollars to construct a new Brain Center over the next five or six years. The Greene Center, as it will be called will delve into the interrelationship of brain physiology and genetics, tying it all in with human behavior.

As I read, I grinned and nodded, not only because of the vicarious pride I felt in learning that the center was being funded by the largest grant received in the history of Columbia University, but also because it was the second such story that I had come across in as many weeks. About that vicarious pride — veteran Brain Bloggers will remember my preoccupation with challenging science to identify the neuroanatomical correlates of human behavior, and for psychiatrists to be trained as brain scientists so that they might use this information as a diagnostic tool. To the point, the University of California at Santa Barbara recently launched the Sage Center for the Study of the Mind. The center will focus on the intersection of concepts like neurobiology, neurophilosophy, neuroimaging and social science, to name a few. If only at platectonic speed, we are getting there.

KEEP THINKING!