The Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit is a branch of the UK Medical Research Council, based in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The CBSU is a centre for

cognitive neuroscience Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific field that is concerned with the study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain which are involved in mental process ...

, with a mission to improve human health by understanding and enhancing cognition and behaviour in health, disease and disorder. It is one of the largest and most long-lasting contributors to the development of psychological

theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may ...

and practice. The CBSU has its own magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, 3T) scanner on-site, as well as a 306-channel

magnetoencephalography Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a functional neuroimaging technique for mapping brain activity by recording magnetic fields produced by electrical currents occurring naturally in the brain, using very sensitive magnetometers. Arrays of SQUIDs (s ...

(MEG) system and a 128-channel

electroencephalography Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. The biosignals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in the neocor ...

(EEG) laboratory. The CBSU has close links to

clinical neuroscience Clinical neuroscience is a branch of neuroscience that focuses on the scientific study of fundamental mechanisms that underlie diseases and disorders of the brain and central nervous system. It seeks to develop new ways of conceptualizing and dia ...

research in the

University of Cambridge Medical School The School of Clinical Medicine is the medical school of the University of Cambridge in England. According to the QS World University Rankings 2020, it ranks as the 3rd best medical school in the world. The school is located alongside Addenbroo ...

. Over 140 scientists, students, and support staff work in research areas such as Memory, Attention, Emotion, Speech and Language, Development and Aging, Computational Modelling and Neuroscience Methods. With dedicated facilities available on site, the Unit has particular strengths in the application of

neuroimaging Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Incr ...

techniques in the context of well-developed neuro-cognitive theory.

History

The unit was established in 1944 as the MRC Applied Psychology Unit. In June 2001, the History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group held a

witness seminar A witness seminar is a method of collecting oral history material, whereby a number of people connected to an event or topic meet to share recollections of their involvement. The results may be recorded or videoed and an edited transcript published. ...

to gather information on the unit's history. On 1 July 2017, the CBU was merged with the University of Cambridge. Coming under the Clinical School, the unit is still funded by the British government through

Research Councils UK Research Councils UK, sometimes known as RCUK, was a non-departmental public body which coordinated science policy in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2018. It was an umbrella organisation that coordinated the seven separate research councils t ...

but is managed and maintained by Cambridge University.

List of directors

* Kenneth Craik, 1944–1945 *

Frederic Bartlett Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett FRS (20 October 1886 – 30 September 1969) was a British psychologist and the first professor of experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge. He was one of the forerunners of cognitive psychology as we ...

, 1945–1951 * Norman Mackworth, 1951–1958 * Donald Broadbent, 1958–1974 *

Alan Baddeley Alan David Baddeley CBE FRS, is a British psychologist. He is known for his research on memory and for developing the three-component model of working memory. He is a professor of psychology at the University of York. Biography Baddeley was ...

, 1974–1997 *

William Marslen-Wilson Professor William D. Marslen-Wilson FBA, FAE (born 1945) is a neuroscientist. Marslen-Wilson obtained his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1973. He subsequently worked as an assistant professor at the University of Chicago. ...

, 1997–2010 *

Susan Gathercole Susan Elizabeth Gathercole was the Unit Director at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. from 2011 until 2018. She is a research psychologist, best known for her studies into working memory deficits in children. She has worked extensively w ...

, 2011–2018 * Matthew Lambon Ralph, 2018–

References

External links

MRC CBU Home Page
{{authority control Cognitive neuroscience Neuroscience research centres in the United Kingdom Neuroimaging Cognitive science research institutes Cognitive psychology Medical research institutes in the United Kingdom Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) Research institutes in Cambridge Research institutes established in 1944 1944 establishments in the United Kingdom Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, MRC