Mission

Since 1999, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN) has served as the central focus at Duke University for research, education, and training in the psychological, computational, and biological mechanisms of higher mental function; variability in these mechanisms among individuals, across the lifespan, and between species; application of these mechanisms to real-world problems; and their dissolution in disease and mental disorders.

Research

Cognitive neuroscience is by its nature interdisciplinary, and addresses longstanding questions about brain and mind from new perspectives that cut across traditional intellectual and departmental boundaries. CCN research focuses on perception, attention, memory, language, emotion, decision making, social interaction, morality, motor control, executive function, and the evolution and development of mental processes. To advance this agenda, the CCN and its activities bring together faculty from multiple schools in the University, including Arts & Sciences, Medical School, Pratt School of Engineering, and Fuqua Business School, representing the departments of Psychology & Neuroscience, Neurobiology, Psychiatry, Biomedical Engineering, Philosophy, Evolutionary Anthropology, Computer Science, Linguistics, Neurology, Radiology, Finance, and Marketing.

Resources

The heart of CCN life and work revolves around world-class teaching halls, laboratory facilities, offices, and social gathering space in the Levine Science Research Center, a centrally located facility on Duke's West Campus within easy walking distance of other University, Engineering, Business, Law, and Medical School buildings.

In addition, CCN faculty maintain and utilize research facilities in the Duke Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC), the Bryan Building for Neurobiology, the Genome Science Research II building, the University Vivarium, the Duke Lemur Center , the Biological Sciences Building , the Social Psychology Building, Erwin Mills, Duke Hospital, Fuqua School of Business, and field sites in North Carolina , Puerto Rico, and West Africa.

Activities

The CCN provides weekly opportunities for dialogue through seminar, lecture, and lunchtime presentation series. The Center also sponsors a distinguished lecture series (Mind, Brain, and Behavior) to bring in notable scientists to present their research. In addition, CCN interacts extensively with other groups interested in neuroscience, cognition, and behavior through the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS), and departments of Neurobiology, Psychology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering, Marketing , Finance, and Evolutionary Anthropology. A yearly retreat provides an informal opportunity for discussion and team-building.

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