BGSU's newest center to focus on cutting-edge brain research

Bowling Green State University is establishing a new Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior. The multi-disciplinary, multi-university research center will focus on behavioral neuroscience, the study of nervous systems, behavior and psychological processes.

"Neuroscience is one of the fastest growing and most exciting areas in science today," Dr. Verner P. Bingman, the center's founding director and a professor of psychology at the University, said.

The University will officially announce creation of the center at a dinner-lecture on Friday (Nov. 19) in the Safari Lodge of the Toledo Zoo. More than 100 guests, including current and former faculty and students from Bowling Green, the University of Toledo and the Medical College of Ohio, along with local and state officials are expected to attend. The guest of honor will be Dr. John P. Scott, a retired BGSU Regents Professor who was a pioneer in the field of behavioral biology. The keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Masakazu "Mark" Konishi, the Bing Professor of Behavioral Biology at the California Institute of Technology and a world-class expert on the neuro-ethology of birds.

Only five other universities in the country have similar centers, Bingman said, adding that with the quality of the faculty who will be research partners in the center, Bowling Green's program could quickly become internationally recognized.

"We already have a core of internationally recognized faculty who have research interests in behavioral neuroscience. By harnessing the research expertise of each individual faculty member, we can facilitate an integrative study of behavioral neuroscience that is unequalled," Bingman said.

Because of that expertise, the center will be able to integrate the study of whole organism behavior with cellular and molecular neural processes, Bingman said. "It is this level of study that provides us with greater insight into important societal concerns, such as the origin of criminal behavior, depression, insomnia, learning, creativity and group dynamics," he noted.

Eleven faculty members from the University's psychology department, nine from the department of biological sciences, and one each from the University of Toledo and the Medical College of Ohio will be affiliated with the center.

The center will focus on faculty research and graduate education. In addition to preparing biology and psychology master's and doctoral degree students in neuroscience, the center will be a springboard for the development of its own doctoral program in behavioral neuroscience. Plans also call for the creation of post-doctoral research fellowships and a scholar-in-residence program.

"Today, every psychologist working in neuroscience knows biology and every biologist knows psychology," Bingman said. "Department lines are being blurred as ideas in one area are being applied in another. In the 21st century, collaboration between departments will be the key to scientific breakthroughs."

This collaboration has been especially strong at BGSU. "Recently, our faculty took a hard look at how we could maximize our strengths and work with other departments," Dr. George Bullerjahn, chair of the biological sciences department, said. "We (biology and psychology) just naturally came together. Both departments have strong researchers in the area of neuroscience."

"From molecular biology to cognitive psychology, this is a field whose future is unlimited," according to Bingman, who said, "some of the best and brightest students are coming to this field of study and with the new center, they will be coming to Bowling Green."

Facts About BGSU | News Service

Administrative Offices	webmaster@bgnet.bgsu.edu | 11/12/99