MIT BCS (Brain & Cognitive Science) Department

MIT 뇌/인지과학 학과( http://web.mit.edu/bcs/  )

MIT의 뇌/인지과학과는 1986년에 심리학과와 신경과학 과정이 결합하여 탄생하였고

학부 과정과 대학원 과정이 있다.

대학원의 전공 분야는

1. 분자, 세포 신경과학 전공

2. 체계(시스템) 신경과학 전공

3. 인지과학 전공

4. 계산 전공

5. 인지신경과학 전공

의 5 분야가 있다.

<역사>

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences was founded by Hans-Lukas Teuber in 1964 as a Department of Psychology with the then-radical vision that the study of brain and mind are inseparable. Dr. Teuber came to MIT to head the already-existing "psychology section" within the Department of Economics. The psychology program (as it was not yet a Department) was initially housed on the second floor of the recently demolished C wing of Building 20, where current faculty members Peter Schiller and Stephan Chorover began a graduate level neuropsychological research and training program focusing on the study of learning, memory, and perception in experimental animals.

In 1962, the program moved into reconverted Building E10. The faculty had expanded to include, among others, Emilio Bizzi, Alan Hein, Dick Held and Molly Potter who are still vital members of our community. Early graduate students included current faculty members Ann Graybiel, Whitman Richards, and Gerald Schneider.

Under the leadership of Emilio Bizzi in 1986, the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences was formed by merging the Department of Psychology and the neuroscience program of the Whitaker College of Health Sciences. In October 1993 the Department moved administratively from Whitaker College to the School of Science.

Envisioned as an interdisciplinary department from the outset, researchers in BCS have continued to work on the forefront of the rapidly evolving fields of molecular and cellular neuroscience, systems neuroscience, cognitive science, computational neuroscience, and cognitive neuroscience. Today, at a time of increasing specialization and fragmentation, our original goal is worth restating: we aim to understand cognition- its processes, and its mechanisms at the level of molecules, neurons, networks of neurons, and brain modules.

<학과 과정의 목표: MISSION STATEMENT>

The human brain is the most complex, sophisticated, and powerful information-processing device known. To study its complexities, the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology combines the experimental technologies of neurobiology, neuroscience, and psychology, with the theoretical power that comes from the fields of computational neuroscience and cognitive science.

The Department was founded by Hans-Lukas Teuber in 1964 as a Department of Psychology, with the then-radical vision that the study of brain and mind are inseparable. Today, at a time of increasing specialization and fragmentation, our goal remains to understand cognition- its processes, and its mechanisms at the level of molecules, neurons, networks of neurons, and brain modules. We are unique among neuroscience and cognitive science departments in our breadth, and in the scope of our ambition. We span a very large range of inquiry into the brain and mind, and our work bridges many different levels of analysis including molecular, cellular, systems, computational and cognitive approaches.

Central to our mission is the training of graduate students in the brain and cognitive sciences, and the education of undergraduate students. Our graduate students benefit from the comprehensiveness of our program as well as by conducting research with individual faculty members who are on the cutting-edge of their fields. The Department recently expanded its undergraduate program to include both neuroscience and cognitive science and our major is now one of the fastest growing in the institute.

< 학부 과정 설명 >

Brain science and cognitive science are complementary and interactive in their research objectives. Both approaches examine perception, performance, and intervening processes in humans and animals. Central issues in the discipline include the structure, acquisition, use, and internal representation of human language; the interpretation of sensory experience; the development of formal and informal reasoning skills; the reception, manipulation, storage, and retrieval of information within the nervous system; and the planning and execution of motor activity.

The Bachelor of Science in Brain and Cognitive Sciences prepares students for graduate training in neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, or aspects of artificial intelligence (particularly those aspects concerned with vision) as well as further work in the area of efficient human-machine interaction. The undergraduate program is designed to provide instruction in the relevant aspects of these various disciplines. Faculty members from these disciplines serve as advisors to majors, helping them select a coherent set of subjects from within the requirements, including an independent research project.

<학과 내 세부 전공 프로그램: 대학원>

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences offers graduate programs leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The programs are designed to prepare participants to do original research and to teach. Graduates will gain expertise in specific research areas in addition to becoming well educated in the broader fields of brain or cognitive science. Students may specialize in molecular and cellular neuroscience, systems neuroscience, cognitive science, computation, or in a fifth track called cognitive neuroscience for students whose research interests encompass more than one discipline.

Graduate students begin research apprenticeships within their first term, at which time advisor assignments are made based upon a match of interests, or after an optional lab rotation period during the first semester. Assignments can change as students' goals become more focused. Before the end of the second year, students form advisory committees composed of two to four faculty members. These committees monitor progress during subsequent years and, with membership changing as necessary, they evolve into thesis committees. Starting in the first year, graduate students are expected to spend at least half of their time in the laboratory conducting research.

Course requirements are designed to permit flexibility. Students normally choose one of the four departmental research areas as a major field and a second one as a minor field, although the minor field is sometimes chosen from a different MIT department. After fulfilling core course requirements, students take a specified number of lecture courses in their major and minor fields. There are written and oral qualifying examinations at the end of the second year. In preparation for academic careers, students are trained in giving seminars and in classroom teaching, and work as teaching assistants in departmental subjects. The remaining time is devoted to research, although all students are encouraged to take advantage of the numerous seminars and colloquia offered at MIT and in the surrounding Cambridge/Boston area.

<전공 영역>

<영역1>: Research in the area of molecular and cellular neuroscience focuses on the development of neural connectivity, the molecular basis of behavior in simple neural circuits, synaptic plasticity, and neurochemistry.

Coursework for the Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience begins with the fall term segment of the two-term core course that surveys the principles underlying the structure and function of the nervous system. The course integrates molecular, cellular, and systems approaches, and it covers topics including development, cell biology of neurons, neurotransmitters and synaptic transmission, sensory systems of the brain, the motor system, higher cortical functions, and behavioral and cellular analyses of learning and memory. Additional coursework, organized in collaboration with the Department of Biology, emphasizes the current genetic, molecular, and cellular approaches to biological systems that are necessary to generate advances in neuroscience. Students take three courses in their major field plus two courses in their minor field. Lecture courses include Cell Biology, Genetic Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology of Synaptic Transmission, Neural Plasticity in Learning and Development, Cellular Neurophysiology,, and Dynamic Neural Processing in the Vertebrate Forebrain. Numerous advanced graduate seminars are also available

<영역2>: Research in the area of systems neuroscience :the main concerns are with vision, movement, and endocrine regulation, with the scientific goals of understanding the transduction and encoding of sensory stimuli; the organization, development, and plasticity of sensorimotor systems; the neural basis of cognition; and the effects of circulating compounds on brain composition and behavior.

Coursework for the Ph.D. in Systems Neuroscience covers neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, behavior, and neurotransmitter chemistry, concentrating on the major sensory and motor systems in the vertebrate brain, as well as higher cortical functions. Specific ties to molecular neurobiology or computation may be emphasized, depending upon the research interests of individual students. Students in the systems neuroscience track take three courses in their major field plus two courses in their minor field. Neuroscience lecture courses include Cellular Physiology, Neural Basis of Learning and Memory, The Visual System, Somatosensory and Motor Systems, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Advanced Animal Behavior. Numerous advanced graduate seminars are also available.

One emphasis of the systems neuroscience program is neural and endocrine regulation of brain and behavior. Graduate students in this area take courses that cover the fields of neurochemistry, neurotransmitter pharmacology, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, animal behavior, and human behavior, as well as appropriate courses in endocrinology, nutrition, or general pharmacology.

<영역3>: In the area of cognitive science interdisciplinary methods that include experimental studies, linguistic theory, and computational modeling are recruited to characterize the origin, acquisition, and processing of knowledge. Research focuses on psycholinguistics, visual perception and cognition, concepts and reasoning, and their development in children. Research on neurologically impaired patients is another important area of investigation.

The Ph.D. program in Cognitive Science is a rigorous training program for experimental psychologists which emphasizes both experimental methodology and formal theory. Research and teaching focus on language, visual processing, concepts and reasoning, action, and memory, as well as how they develop through learning and maturation. Training includes not only experimental psychology, but also relevant areas of neuroscience, formal linguistic theory, computer science, mathematics, and philosophy. Students take the departmental core course in their first year, the spring term of which concentrates on cognition and cognitive neuroscience. This is followed by three lecture courses in their major field, two in their minor field, and advanced seminars and courses both inside and outside the department.

Questions concerning learning and development have been at the heart of traditional problems in cognitive science. We are at a point where techniques and results from a number of fields are leading to rapid progress, and we are beginning to see exciting results concerning development and learning of the cognitive representations underlying perception, language, abstract understanding, visual attention, and knowledge of the physical world. This area of investigation is a major focus of the cognitive science group, and it is supported by a developmental training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Another major area of study, which overlaps with systems neuroscience and computation, is visual perception and visual cognition, including object perception, face recognition, and reading. This area is also supported by a training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Cognitive science is also pursued at other departments and labs at MIT, including the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, the Media Lab, the Artificial Intelligence Lab, the Speech Communication Group, and the Sloan School of Management. Our students profit from these groups by attending seminars and talks, tapping expertise, and collaborating in research.

The cognitive science group also makes extensive use of cognitive neuroscience techniques, including MEG, fMRI, and behavioral studies of neurological patients. MIT has its own MEG scanner, and is in the process of constructing a major imaging facility including fMRI scanners.

<영역4>: In the area of computation, emphasis is on the interdisciplinary study of the brain as an information processor and computing device. Research fields include robotics and the control of movement, vision, learning by neural networks, and knowledge-based perception and reasoning.

The emphasis in the Computation Ph.D. program is on computational models of perception and motor control. Entering students are required to have strong backgrounds in mathematics; further training in the physical sciences, computer science, or engineering is desirable.

Coursework for the Ph.D. combines computational and experimental approaches to brain function. Subjects with an emphasis on computational modeling include Introduction to Neural Networks, Neural Basis of Learning and Memory, and Networks for Learning: Regression and Classification. Students are required to take the departmental core course described above and take additional courses in perception, cognitive science, or neuroscience to fulfill the required three courses in their major, as well as two courses in their minor. Graduate students in computation are expected to be active participants in advanced seminars held at these affiliated laboratories, thereby gaining access to the various multidisciplinary approaches that can help expand their own research capabilities.

The following research centers are associated with the computational group:

Center for Biological and Computational Learning

Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

the Media Laboratory

<영역5>: In the area of cognitive neuroscience, students use multidisciplinary approaches to the study of higher brain function. Research contains elements of investigation from two of the three fields of systems neuroscience, computation, and cognitive science.

The Ph.D. program in Cognitive Neuroscience was established to foster multidisciplinary approaches to the study of higher brain function. Toward this end, students in the cognitive neuroscience track are co-advised by a major thesis advisor and a minor thesis advisor from two of the three disciplines of systems neuroscience, computation, and cognitive science. Thesis projects will contain elements of investigation from two different fields. Cognitive neuroscience students take the departmental core course described above. They also take three courses in their major field and two courses in their minor field, as well as at least one departmental laboratory course.

< 학과 건물, 연구 센터, 연구 그룹 >

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences is administratively a part of MIT's School of Science. Graduate training is carried out primarily in the Whitaker College and the Cognitive Science facilities. However, in keeping with MIT's interdisciplinary traditions, students also use other campus resources such as the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Media Lab, the Speech Communication Group in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, the Clinical Research Center, and the facilities of other departments such as Linguistics and Philosophy, Biology, and Mechanical Engineering. The interdisciplinary Center for Learning and Memory and the RIKEN-MIT Neuroscience Research Center provide the opportunity for research in laboratories that employ molecular, genetic, cellular, and systems approaches to examine the neural bases of activity-dependent changes in the brain.

The Whitaker College building houses the laboratories of the faculty in molecular and cellular neuroscience, systems neuroscience, and most of the faculty in computation. This building contains modern laboratory facilities that include microscopy suites, cell culture rooms, histology laboratories, and cutting-edge neurophysiological equipment. A video and confocal fluorescence microscopy laboratory has been made possible by a grant from the Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust. The Whitaker College building also contains state-of-the-art computer facilities, graphics equipment, a machine shop, an electronics shop, and the Schering-Plough Library.

The nearby Cognitive Science facility contains sophisticated computer-driven laboratories for adult, child, and infant subject testing, as part of a large shared pool of computational resources. Central facilities include networked UNIX workstations to support data acquisition and analysis, computational modeling, and graphical analysis. For speech research, there are digital sound synthesis and analysis workstations.

Human subject testing stations include facilities for presenting visual and auditory stimuli such as 3D color graphic displays, text, and speech, and for recording vocal responses, times, and visual attention. Numerous linguistic databases are maintained on-line. Active collaborations are maintained with pre-schools in the Cambridge area where many cognitive science graduate students carry out experimental studies. Graduate students who are involved with research on human subjects under clinical conditions have access to MIT's Clinical Research Center, an NIH-funded research hospital in a building adjacent to the Whitaker College. Finally, the Cognitive Science facility houses the Teuber Reading Room, a specialized library for neuropsychology and cognitive science.

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences is affiliated with the following MIT research centers:

Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory

Bio-Mechanical Research Group

Center for Biological and Computational Learning

Center for Learning and Memory

Media Laboratory

Perceptual Science Group