人類的大腦是目前已知的最複雜、最先進、最強而有力的資訊處理裝置。為了要研究它的複雜組成，麻省理工學院的腦與認知科學科系結合了神經生物學、神經科學和心裡學的實驗技術，搭配上由電腦輔助的神經科學和認知科學的理論依據。
本科系在一九六四年由Hans-Lukas Teuber創建，舊稱為心理系，那時便開創新見解，主張腦與心智的研究是不可分割的。今日，在日趨專業分工時代中，我們的研究目標仍為探索認知領域：從分子、神經元神經網路和認知模組的層次瞭解它的過程和機制。在神經科學和認知科學的各科系領域中，我們的研究範疇和目標讓我們獨樹一幟。我們對腦和心智的研究領域非常廣泛，結合了許多不同層次的分析，從分子、細胞、系統、電腦運算認知角度探索分析。
由於腦和認知科學的發展時間尚短，變動也十分的快，在本系所大多數的課程中幾乎都沒有單一的教本可以涵蓋所有課程內容。課內讀物主要是期刊論文和研究報告。這樣的作法提供學子們既深且廣知識範疇，讓這些未來的科學家可以直接接觸神經科學和認知科學中最先進領域。當您閱讀麻省理工學院開放式課程系統中的教材時，最珍貴的就是每個科目中所提供的詳細書目，讓您洞悉目前學術界對該主題的思考。
我們科系的主要目的是訓練研究生瞭解腦和認知科學，以及教育大學部的學生。我們的研究生從我們廣泛的科目安排中獲益甚多，更可以和本系的教職員共同參與研究；我們的師資在各領域中都是一時之選。本系所目前將神經科學和認知科學納入大學部課程，而我們的主修生增加的速度也是本校中最快速的。
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 cognitive 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.
Since the field of brain and cognitive sciences is relatively young
and extremely dynamic, there is no single text that encompasses the
subject matter covered in most of the classes offered by the
department. To educate and train future scientists, readings are from
primary journal articles or research papers. This approach provides
broad coverage, as well as the depth needed, so that students are
exposed to cutting-edge knowledge in the various specialties of
neuroscience and cognitive science. Browsing the course materials in
MIT OpenCourseWare, the jewels are revealed in the detailed reading
lists that provide a window on the current thinking in each subject.
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.
若要瞭解更多資訊，請見：http://web.mit.edu/bcs/index.html
